


Invisible Illness

by aalikane



Category: Glee
Genre: Graphic Description of Pain, Headaches & Migraines, Illnesses, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-08-03
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2017-10-22 04:04:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 56,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/233549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aalikane/pseuds/aalikane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt suffers from something society calls an "Invisible Illness." Follow his journey as he learns that not all illnesses are the same, and some can truly impact ones way of life. WIP.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and none of them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story: Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.

It was a beautiful summer afternoon. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky for miles. Most kids his age were out at their summer jobs, or hanging out at the local pool with friends lounging the day away in the sun. It was the perfect day to do so. The temperature was the mid-80's and it was a dryer heat, not really that humid, making it the perfect day to sit outside and sunbathe. But for Kurt, it was one of the worst days in his life. Kurt had a chronic illness. One that doctors had not been able to manage with medication yet and Kurt hadn't yet figured out all of the triggers for. Most people who knew Kurt, who really knew him, understood that he suffered quite a bit from this illness. They knew that when he fell into one of his episodes, to just leave him alone, and not mess with him for fear of hurting him even more. But to anyone outside of his little social circle, they all thought he was faking it, all because he had an _Invisible Illness._

There were many types of invisible illnesses. There were some like Multiple Sclerosis where the myelin surrounding your neurons slowly disintegrates. There are some like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome where you're constantly tired. But Kurt didn't have either of these. Kurt had something that caused him daily pain. Something so severe that he was usually confined to his bed for hours at a time, trying to sleep away the pain. What possible invisible illness could Kurt have, many people wonder? Well it's simple really. Migraines. Kurt Elizabeth Hummel suffers from Chronic Migraines.

Now after people learn this, they usually scoff, saying that headaches aren't illnesses and that he shouldn't claim that they are. Headaches are annoying yes, but they aren't so horrible to interfere with a person's daily life like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or Diabetes. Half the time Kurt doesn't tell anyone he doesn't have to about his illness because no one ever _gets_ it. No one can ever accept that migraines (not headaches, which are two completely different things) can interfere with the daily workings of one's life. Kurt hates it when people tell him to man up and stop being such a baby about his poor head hurting. That there were millions of people dealing with _real_ pain out in the world for him to be trying to gain sympathy.

Which is why he was lying down in his room right now, with the curtains closed, lights off, and a scarf over his eyes all to block out any rays of sunlight that might seep through. He couldn't listen to music, the one thing in the world that always calmed him down, because loud noises, whether it be classical music, rap, pop, or rock and roll, would cause his head to pound around him, as if someone was smashing his head with a sledgehammer.

Kurt wished that there was some way to get rid of his pain. But when many people believed that he wasn't in pain, what was he to do?


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt experiences his first severe headache, and has no idea why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and noneof them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.

April 2nd, 2011

Kurt was in the middle of his AP European History class with Mr. Marlow when he first felt the twinge in the middle of his head. Okay it wasn't quite the _middle_ of his head. It was more the right side middle of his head. If you were to take your finger and trace it up from the tip of your right ear and go about 3 inches up your head, you'd feel the spot that the twinges started to hit. At first, Kurt thought nothing of them. _'It's just a headache'_ He thought to himself, knowing that people have headaches all the time. He quickly dug into his messenger bag and pulled out a packet of Advil that he had kept there ever since his McKinley days. Countless days of being shoved into lockers and tossed into dumpsters required some sort of pain relievers on hand at all times. He was glad that Dalton had a lax policy on over the counter pain relievers. It stated that students may bring OTC medications for their own personal use to school, and they wouldn't have to check them in with the nurse. However if they were ever caught giving those medications to another student, they were royally screwed. (Okay so that wasn't the precise wording in the Student Handbook, but it seemed to get the point across.)

He popped the two Advil into his mouth and grabbed a drink of the water that he had on hand at all times. Normally if he had a headache he'd try and deal with the pain and not take any drugs to make it go away, however Mr. Marlow was giving an important lecture and hinted that 90% of the next test was going to be on this material so Kurt decided he better be safe than sorry. He couldn't afford to fail the next test. He had been spending so much time with the Warblers and Blaine that he had flunked his last AP Euro test, and if he didn't at least get a B on this one…he would risk getting on Academic Probation.

The pain in his head wasn't that bad, it was manageable and if he focused on his teacher's lecture and on the notes that he should be taking, he almost didn't feel it. _Almost_ being the operative word.

About 30 minutes later the class was finally over, but the headache was slowly getting worse. The pain kept rising at a steady pace, which he was thankful for. At least it wasn't going from 0 to 10 in 5 minutes, but at the same time, he wished he could just get rid of it all together. But that wasn't the only thing that was bothering him about this stupid headache. The fluorescent lights that seemed to be in _every room_ just made things…worse. It was like he had just woken up from a 3 hour nap and someone was shining a flashlight in his face. He couldn't deal with the pain that came with the light.

He gathered up his things and walked out of the classroom. Blaine who was coming out of another classroom just a couple doors down ran over to him. "Hey Kurt." He said as he wound his right arm around Kurt's hip and pulled Kurt in for a quick kiss.

"Hey." Kurt replied a tad bit distracted from the pain currently coursing through his head. As he pulled his bag over his shoulder he rubbed his head a little bit, and that's when Blaine noticed something was up.

"Kurt what's wrong? Head hurt?" Kurt nodded.

"Yea, all of a sudden halfway through last class my head started to pound. It's like someone took a railroad spike and started jamming it into this one particular spot of my brain." He told his boyfriend, as he absent mindedly rubbed the spot on his head that was currently bothering him.

"Could it be a tension headache? You've got that big term paper coming up." Kurt shrugged.

"It's possible. But I'm not really all that tense." Kurt told him. Kurt used to be tense all the time when he was going to school at McKinley, but since he transferred to Dalton, he had eased up, and most of the latent-tension from his bullied-days was gone.

"Well why don't we go test that theory. Let's grab some lunch and bring it into the Junior Commons. We can eat, and then see if we can try and de-stress you." Blaine flirtatiously told him, batting his eyelashes overdramatically. Kurt smiled and nodded as they walked side by side towards the cafeteria.

By the time they got to the Junior Commons Kurt's headache had gotten even worse, and the light from the sun was really bothering him. Blaine sat down on the couch, as Kurt went to close the large dusty curtains that hadn't been cleaned properly in about 20 years. After making the room substantially darker, Kurt sat down into the couch and tried to relax. They talked as they ate, quietly because they didn't want to draw any attention to themselves in the common room, since if they did…anyone might come in and interrupt them, not something they wanted to happen.

As they were quietly whispering about Blaine's English class and how his teacher had an obsession with Mark Twain Kurt felt another set of stabbing pains in his head, enough that he whimpered out in pain and clutched his hands to his head. "Kurt, are you okay?" Kurt shook his head, and Blaine watched as his boyfriend took his head into his hands and just silently sobbed, not knowing what to do. He tried the only thing he could think of, a massage that might relieve some of the tension Kurt was storing in his neck. As he began to rub his hands over his boyfriend's neck and shoulders, Kurt tensed a little and was still sobbing quietly into his hands. Kurt threw up his hands and stood up while cringing.

"Please stop. You're making it worse." Blaine looked hurt, but knew it wasn't Kurt's fault.

"I'm sorry Kurt." His boyfriend sighed and sat back down, this time pulling Blaine back to rest on the couch and curling into him.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one with a head who won't stop feeling like there's a knife sticking out of it." Kurt grumbled, taking what little comfort he could, being with his boyfriend even if his boyfriend couldn't really _touch_ him without making this headache worse.

"Maybe you should go to the nurse?" Blaine asked, and Kurt shook his head.

"What is she going to do? Hand me two Tylenol and send me back to class? I already took advil in the middle of last class, it's just not working."

"Maybe you can lie down in one of the beds in her office, sleep it off?" Kurt shook his head.

"Can't, I have a test after lunch. PoliSci with Beaker. You know how Beaker doesn't let you make up tests for any reason besides death, yours not anyone elses." Blaine sighed. Having had Beaker last semester, he knew exactly how he was in regards to testing. He reluctantly agreed with Kurt and just sat there, every once in a while pressing a kiss into his boyfriend's hair an act that only he could ever get away with. Kurt turned to face him after a few moments. "You know…maybe some light making out will help it go away…endorphins you know?" he smiled as Blaine leaned in and slowly pressed his lips to Kurt's. It was slow and passionate, just what they both wanted and what Kurt needed. Kurt didn't need frantic with hands moving everywhere and Blaine accidentally exciting him more than he should be excited right now, but this was sweet. It was nice. It was exactly what Kurt loved about his and Blaine's relationship.

However after a few minutes (and a few deep panting breaths for air) Kurt realized that the endorphin theory really wasn't working. It was also time for class, which neither of them wanted to go to. But they had to. So they did.

By the time Kurt got home that day after school his headache had gotten worse. If anyone were to ask how bad it was, based on a scale of 1-10, he'd have to say about a 6 or a 7. Around lunch it had been a 4 or a 5. It was getting progressively worse, and he had no clue why. Right before he left school he popped another two advil to try and handle the stupid thing, but after an hour of driving, it hadn't done anything. Which is why Kurt ended up storming up to his room, not saying hello to his stepbrother or stepmother, both of whom were sitting on the living room couch watching TV.

As he opened the door to his room he flung himself onto his bed and buried his head into his pink fuzzy pillow and felt like screaming, but knew that if he tried screaming it would probably only make his head worse. For the 2nd time that day Kurt sobbed, into his pillow as the fabric quickly soaked up any tears that escaped his ever-color-changing eyes. But the sobbing only made his head worse. The shaky breaths, the quick jolts of the head, made the migraine ten times worse. It was horrible. He couldn't stand it. Why was this happening to him? Why did he have this headache that just wouldn't go away? He was so absorbed into himself that he hadn't even noticed when Carole walked into his room and sat on the edge of his bed. "Honey, are you okay?" She asked him, not used to him crying for no reason. Kurt was very strong, she knew this and even when he was being bullied and having his life threatened at McKinley, he never cried over it.

Kurt looked up and shook his head and gulped. "I feel horrible." He told the closest thing he had to a mother nowadays. She, in a move known to all mothers everywhere, placed her hand against his forehead to see if he was running a fever (cause who resorts to using thermometers, really?)

"What's wrong Kurt?"

"My head is killing me." He sobbed out to her, a vulnerability he rarely lets anyone but his father see. "I took advil at lunch, and again about an hour ago…but it's doing nothing." Carole sighed and stood as Kurt dropped his head into his pillow again. Carole came back after a few minutes with a wet cool washcloth and nudged him to turn over.

"Here, put this on your head. It'll help." He took it and put it on his head, but wasn't quite so sure if it was going to do anything. "Try and rest. I'll be in to check on you in a little bit. Sleep if you can, it usually helps when I used to have headaches." She smiled and left the room

Kurt laid there and tried to go to sleep, but couldn't quite manage to do it while he was still in his Dalton uniform, so he was resigned to getting up and changing, and then quickly getting back in bed and falling asleep. Clearly this headache was something else, because he didn't wake up until early the next morning. Luckily the headache was gone, and Kurt felt refreshed.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt experiences another extremely painful headache. Only when Wes mentions it possibly being a migraine, does Kurt realize something is wrong with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and none of them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story: Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.
> 
> Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.

It had been a week since the last headache and Kurt hadn't felt anything horrible in his head region for the entirety of that time. He was enjoying the latest Warblers' practice where they were practicing for the Regionals competition. Kurt and Blaine had been given a duet to sing and since it was the first time he had a real solo for the Warblers he wanted to make sure it was perfect.

"No Kurt, Blaine walk around the side of the chorus and meet up in the middle. Don't just walk through them." Wes told them, annoyance riddling his voice.

"Okay, okay." Kurt appeased the Council member. They ran through the number again and Wes seemed slightly mollified. It was going well. They went through the routine again and again, each time Kurt's emotions would shine through and Blaine's smile would grow wider. But on the fourth run through, the light inside Kurt began to dim. He started to lower the volume of his voice and Wes (as well as David and Thad) got annoyed. "I'm sorry. I just need to sit down for a minute." Blaine walked over to his boyfriend and sat down next to him on the small loveseat in the Warbler's practice room.

"You okay?" Kurt nodded his head lamely.

"I'm fine. It's just…my head. It's starting to hurt and the volume of everyone singing isn't helping." Blaine looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Remember last week when I had that monster headache?" Blaine nodded, "It's back. But this time the loudness of the singing is making it worse. My singing, your singing, all of their singing." He said, gesturing to the rest of the Warblers who gasped as if they took offense to his comment. Wes however looked sympathetic.

"Kurt do you feel nauseous at all?" Kurt thought about it for a second and realized he did feel a little queasy and then nodded his head slowly. "What about dizzy? Feel dizzy at all?"

"Definitely a bit of dizzy there, but not too much."

"It sounds like you might have a migraine. My mom gets them all the time. Is the light bothering you?"

"Not right now, no." Wes nodded his head before making an announcement.

"Okay rehearsal is over. Everyone return tomorrow where we'll be practicing _Raise Your Glass._ " Everyone nodded their acknowledgement and began walking out of the room leaving Kurt alone with Blaine and Wes. "Blaine why don't we get him home? If this is a migraine, he's not going to be in any state to drive soon enough."

"What do you mean, Wes? I'm perfectly able to drive home." Kurt declared as he stood up and almost lost his balance due to the nausea and the dizziness currently consuming him. Wes just smirked and grabbed onto Kurt's arms to steady the poor kid.

"Easy there. Just let Blaine drive you and your car home. I'll drive Blaine's car behind you so he has a way to get back."

"…and just how do you plan on getting home, Wes?" Blaine asked his non-boyfriend best friend.

"My dad works in Lima. I'll call him to pick me up on his way home. My car is at the shop right now anyway."

So off they went. Kurt laying down in the passenger seat with the horrendous looking sunglasses that Finn left in the glove compartment because somewhere between the doors to the school and the parking lot the light from the sun began to beat down upon him as if the sun's rays could do immediate physical damage to his brain.

Blaine felt bad that his boyfriend was in such pain but he couldn't do anything about it. Kurt had taken the (previously ineffective) Advil he had taken last week on their way out of the school. Blaine turned the radio off and let his mind wander. Was there something he could to do help? Could he find some sort of herbal tea that would make his boyfriend feel better? Was there anything a doctor could do? There probably was something a doctor could do but he also knew that Kurt hated Doctors. After his mother dying, and his father's heart attack Kurt hated anything in the medical field.

As they got to Kurt's home, Blaine helped Kurt out of the car and got his keys out of his bag because he knew no one was going to be home. Burt was at the shop until around 7, Carole was at work until 6, and Finn was at practice until 6:30. Blaine knew their schedules so well because today was usually the day that he and Kurt would advance their relationship in the privacy of Kurt's bedroom with no one else home. (Oddly enough, Burt never made a rule about Blaine not being at their home without someone else around, which Blaine and Kurt felt the need to make use of until their luck ran out).

Kurt walked straight into the living room and laid down face first into a pillow. It was only 3:30pm and Wes and Blaine knew they were in for an interesting afternoon. Blaine stood there for a few minutes before Wes pulled on his shirt for a moment and dragged him into the foyer out of earshot of Kurt.

"Don't you think you should call his dad? Wouldn't he want to know that his son is sick?" Blaine pursed his lips and didn't know if Kurt would appreciate him telling his father, but at the same time, he didn't want to get on Burt's bad side and not tell him when something was seriously wrong with his son.

"Yea, that's probably a good idea…" Wes nodded his agreement.

"You go call him. I'll go get Kurt a drink and try and distract him for a few minutes."

"Thanks." Blaine looked a little nervous about calling Burt up and telling him, though more about Kurt's reaction, more than about Burt's. He took out his phone and called Hummel's Lube and Tire Shop.

"Hello, Hummel's Lube and Tire Shop, Burt speaking."

"Hello, Burt? It's me, Blaine."

"Hi Blaine. What's up?"

"Well I just wanted to let you know that Kurt had another headache today…actually I'm thinking it's more a migraine, not a headache. Well he still has it actually…"

"Oh gosh. Is he okay?" But groaned. He looked in on Kurt last week when he was suffering from that monster headache and he could see the grimace on his face, even while he slept. It was one of the worst things Burt had ever seen, and he definitely didn't want to see it again.

"It's bad. He's dizzy, nauseous and every shard of light and every noise over 5 decibels makes it worse."

"Where is he?"

"Wes and I brought him home, because he wasn't in any condition to drive. He's currently lying on the couch right now." Blaine peaked into the living room to watch Kurt, and saw him groaning and holding his head. He turned around and faced away from the living room to continue. "If the look on him right now is any indication, he's miserable right now."

"Poor kid…I'll try and get home sooner than normal tonight. You going to be okay with him until someone else get home?" Burt asked and smiled when Blaine replied that he didn't even have to ask.

"Absolutely. There's no way I'd leave him alone right now. At least not alone, alone. I'm pretty sure in about a half hour he's not going to want anyone around him." Burt chuckled.

"Yea, that's like him. He's not usually up for company when he's ill. Got that from his mother."

"We should be fine. I'll call you if anything else comes up. Odds are he'll end up sleeping on the couch and I'll end up doing homework until you or Carole gets home."

"Either way, I'll be home when I can. Thanks for taking care of him."

"My boyfriend's sick. I'd be beating myself up if I was doing anything else." Blaine honestly told his boyfriend's father. "Bye Burt."

"See you later, Blaine." Blaine walked over towards Kurt and Wes who was sitting on Burt's big 'Papa' chair and Kurt was trying to drink down the water Wes had brought him to try and stay hydrated.

"Hey…" Blaine leaned over and kissed his forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"It could be worse. I could have gotten a slushie facial." Kurt joked, but Blaine smiled.

"Actually, the cold feeling from a slushie facial would probably help your head Kurt…" Wes spoke up. "Migraines can be caused when the blood vessels in your brain swell. Ice, or in this case a slushie facial would reduce the blood flow causing migraines. The slushie would act like an ice pack. When you sprain your ankle… you put ice on it to reduce swelling and allow blood to flow easier, same concept for your head." Blaine nodded and Kurt appeared pensive. Blaine looked to Kurt and shrugged.

"It's worth a shot?" Blaine quickly got up and went to rummage through the freezer in the kitchen to find some sort of ice pack that he could put on Kurt's head. He finally had to settle on a bag of frozen peas and placed a fresh kitchen towel around it and went back into the living room and placed it on Kurt's head.

"It should probably start to help the headache within 10 minutes, if it's going to work. I'd have suggested a cool wash cloth, but those don't work for my mom's migraines, and I don't know if they'd work for you." Wes told them. "They usually work for her headaches, but when she gets a full migraine, cool cloths go out the window.

"It does feel a little better." Kurt admitted. Blaine and Wes smiled.

"Anyway, I'm going to go call my dad to pick me up on his way home. Kurt, I'd get some rest if I were you. That migraine is going to take a lot out of you."

"Thanks Wes…" Kurt replied. "I think I'm actually going to go get changed though. I don't care how sick I am, I'm not falling asleep in my Dalton uniform." The two older boys chuckled, knowing how Kurt was about fashion, and ruining outfits by wrinkling them.

It was about 2 hours later and Kurt had fallen asleep in his bedroom while Blaine was downstairs in the kitchen working on homework. He had gone in to check up on Kurt every half hour to make sure he was feeling okay, but every time Kurt was sleeping. It was probably a good thing. It was a few minutes later that Finn burst through the door and started shouting "Anyone home?" Blaine tensed and ran for the front of the house

"Shut up, Finn!" He harshly whispered. "What the hell are you doing home so early?"

"Beiste was happy with us for once, so she let us go an hour early, why what's up?" Finn asked in a normal volume.

"Kurt's got a migraine and is sleeping upstairs. By God if you wake him up and cause crabby!Kurt to emerge I will hurt you." Blaine tried to intimidate the frankenteen, but he got his point across.

"Again? He had one of those last week, didn't he?" Finn asked, in a lower volume this time. Blaine nodded. Finn sighed. "Boy just can't catch a break, can he?"

"Nope. He's been trying to sleep all afternoon. Told Burt that I'd stay here with him until him or Carole came home." Finn nodded.

"Okay. I'm just gonna grab a quick something to eat and hop in the shower. Because I have no idea what we're having for dinner….Kurt usually cooks on Fridays when he's not out with you." Finn grimaced. Blaine nodded and Finn walked into the Kitchen while Blaine checked his watch and saw he should probably check in on Kurt again.

He walked up the stairs and heard sobbing coming from outside the door. He knew this was going to be bad. He slowly opened the door and spoke softly. "Kurt?" he called out. He could hear Kurt quickly sniff, trying to stop the sobs and tears from pouring out of his eyes that had surely been doing just that minutes prior.

"Blaine?" Kurt answered weakly. Blaine walked into the room and quickly shut the door so as not to let in any extra light than necessary.

"Hey baby. How are you feeling?" Blaine asked in a calm voice, as he sat at the edge of the bed.

"Ugh. Horrible." Kurt said as he was curled up on his side, facing the wall. Blaine leaned over and pressed a kiss to Kurt's temple.

"I know. I wish I could make you feel better."

"Lay down with me?" Kurt asked, wanting to at least be next to his boyfriend. This migraine may prevent him from being with his boyfriend in many ways that they usually were on Friday afternoons, but it was not going to prevent them from snuggling. Blaine smiled and lifted up the covers to slide in beside Kurt. He placed his arm around Kurt's stomach and pulled him closer. Kurt just took comfort in being so close to Blaine, and Blaine took comfort in knowing he was doing the most he could for Kurt, without knowing exactly what was causing this migraine.

* * *

Kurt had fallen back asleep about 20 minutes later and Blaine slipped out of the bed, not wanting Burt or Carole to return home to see the two boys _under_ the covers in Kurt's _bed_ with the door to his bedroom _closed._ That would not look good for either of the two boys. When he went back downstairs he saw Carole coming in the front door holding a bag of takeout that he quickly grabbed out of her arms because it looked like she was about to drop them. "Here Carole, let me get those for you."

"Oh thank you Blaine. Bring them into the kitchen for me?" She asked, and he nodded. "So, not that I'm not happy to see you, but where are _my_ boys?" She wondered.

"Well…Finn I think said was going to take a shower. Kurt…came down with another headache while at school today."

"Oh poor baby. Is he okay?"

"He's sleeping it off. He just got back to sleep about 10 minutes ago. He was sleeping all afternoon, but it didn't help at all." Blaine sighed. "I hate that he's been getting these headaches."

"You and me both, kid." Carole said as she started taking the food out of the bags. "You planning on staying for dinner?" Blaine shook his head.

"I'd love to, but my mom's expecting me home for dinner tonight. I was just planning on staying until you or Burt got home. Burt said he would try to get home early if he could but…apparently not." Blaine looked at his watch, and realized that he only had about 10 minutes before he had to leave to get home in time for dinner. "I should be leaving soon actually."

"Thanks for looking after him this afternoon Blaine. It was really sweet of you." Carole smiled.

"It was my pleasure." Blaine gave a sad smile. "I'm gonna head out. When Kurt wakes up, tell him I said goodbye? I'd go up and say it myself, but I don't want to risk waking him up. Tell him I'll call him tomorrow?"

"Will do. Will we be seeing you again sometime this weekend?"

"More than likely." Blaine blushed as he answered.

Carole watched as Blaine gathered up his homework and walked out of the house. She thought back to the days when she first met Kurt and Burt…young boy had been so troubled and in such emotional pain. Her poor step-son just never managed to catch a break. First his…unrequited crush on Finn, which everyone in the family just laughs about now…well except Kurt who blushes and tries to ignore it. Then the bullying with Karofsky. Then having to leave his friends at McKinley….Then watching him in agony as Blaine went from one ridiculous crush (GAP Attack) to another (Rachel- she still had no idea where _that_ came from) and finally they got together. Now Kurt is getting these headaches. Poor kid…what _else_ could go wrong?

* * *

About 2 1/2 hours later, Kurt strolled downstairs looking worse than he had last week. His migraine hadn't gone away, he was nauseous and queasy, and definitely didn't feel too well. But he had had enough stomach flues when he was a child to know that throwing up without anything in your stomach, was never a good idea. So after he woke up from his 3 hour nap, he decided to go downstairs to see if he could find something to munch on, since it was nearly 10 o'clock at night. The first thing he realized when he came downstairs was that his father was on the couch watching Top Gear on the giant 65" flat screen, and Carole was sitting off to the side reading her latest issue of _Denim Times_. ' _I really need to get her into Vogue…'_ Kurt thought to himself. As he came down the stairs Burt looked over and saw his son shield his eyes from the light coming from the living room.

"Hey bud, how're you feeling?" Kurt just grimaced and shook his head lightly.

"Like someone decided to run my head over with my Navigator." Kurt deadpanned as he rubbed his temples. "Sleeping it off…did absolutely nothing this time." He walked into the living room, dimming the lights as he went in and collapsed on one of the recliners. "And because of the 6 hours of napping that occurred…I'm never going to get back to sleep tonight." Kurt groaned.

"There's some leftover Chinese in the fridge if you want it Kurt. Want me to heat some up for you?" Carole asked, and Kurt just shook his head.

"Not this late at night. I think I'm just gonna grab an apple or something. My stomach's growling but the thought of eating a full meal right now makes me want to vomit." The two adults just nodded, not knowing what to say. Because what is there to say when a 17 year old comes home with a migraine that there's no cause for? It's only happened twice, so right now there's no reason to think something is actually wrong, so there's no sense worrying. It's just a simple migraine…right?


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the harrowing day before, Kurt and Blaine decide to go to the mall in order to make up for time lost the day before. But will it be a perfect outing, or will the date to end on a bad note?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and noneof them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.

The next day Kurt woke around 9am to find that his head was still aching. Though right now it's just the pain of a normal headache. The sun that's shining in through the slits of the his curtains isn't making him want to hide under the covers, and the sound of Finn and his father watching sports downstairs and the random screaming doesn't make him want to wear earplugs all day. He's no longer nauseous and isn't stumbling around trying to regain his balance so all in all…he can handle a little pain. It's not like he's never had to deal with pain before in his life. He had to deal with quite a bit when he was at McKinley. Dumpster tosses, locker slams and one harrowing experience where he was lifted by the bullies and thrown down the hallway in a game of "loser bowling." Luckily the Neanderthals only got away with that game once before one of the teachers noticed and put a stop to it.

As Kurt went downstairs he smelled the telltale sign of the turkey bacon Carole would cook every Saturday morning. Turkey bacon, the only type of bacon Kurt would allow in the house after his father's heart attack back in October. He could also smell pancakes. Something about that combination smelled wonderful and he was quite eager to make his way downstairs to eat. "Hi Carole." He says as he walks into the kitchen, smiling appreciatively as he takes in the aroma of the other pieces of food that was spread out in front of him. Including the bacon and pancakes, there were bagels, assorted fruit and an entire jug of sugar-free syrup.

"Good morning, Kurt. How are you feeling?" Kurt see-sawed his hand out a little bit.

"Ehh. I'm doing better than I was yesterday, but my head still hurts a bit. But I can deal with the pain of a headache. It's everything else that made life miserable yesterday." Carole nodded.

"I know what you mean. For a while there I would get frequent migraines."

"Really?" Kurt looked interested.

"Mhm. They're more prevalent in women than they are in men. Something about the hormones or whatever. Seems you're one of the unlucky ones." Carole joked.

"Haven't I always?" Kurt deadpanned. Carole let out a soft chuckle.

"You hungry?"

"Famished." Kurt went over towards the cabinets to pull out a plate and began loading it up with some of the fruit on the counter.

"Here," she said, placing two pancakes on his plate. "They were for Finn, but he's already had 4." She rolled her eyes and Kurt's mouth dropped.

"I honestly don't understand how he eats so much and doesn't look like a whale."

"He's a special one." Kurt had to agree with that depiction of his step-brother and dug into the pancakes, moaning appreciatively when he ate the first bite.

"Oh my, these are delicious Carole."

"Why thank you, Kurt." she said a bit louder than was probably normal. "At least someone," she nodded her head towards the living room, "appreciates this breakfast that I've been slaving over for the past hour." _'Ahh…'_ Kurt understood. Finn was being his usual jerky self and not appreciating his mother cooking him breakfast. Typical, actually.

"Of course, Carole." Kurt played along, speaking in a louder volume. "I'd never dream of being unappreciative." Just then Finn walked into the kitchen and saw Kurt eating.

"Hey mom, where are those other pancakes?" Kurt had never face palmed so hard in his life.

"They're coming Finn." Carole sighed exasperatedly. "Since you already had four, I decided to give Kurt these instead." Finn grumbled, glaring at Kurt for stealing his pancakes away and then walked back into the kitchen. "I swear… I taught that boy manners when he was younger." Carole muttered to no one in particular.

"He's a teenage boy, who spends the majority of his time playing Halo, and cursing at the TV whenever he's killed. He forgot manners a long time ago." Carole nodded.

"Sadly." Carole shook her head. "So what are you planning on doing today?" She asked Kurt, he shrugged.

"Dunno." He hadn't made any plans with anyone for today, which was unusual for him. "The girls are all busy, and Blaine and I usually decide if and what we're going to do on Saturday, on Friday. But clearly that didn't happen yesterday." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, that reminds me. You should probably go make sure your phone is on. He said he'd call today. Not that it's really a shock. I've seen the cell phone bill." Kurt blushes. It's true. Him and Blaine, even before they were dating, rarely went a day without calling each other on the phone. Even rarer was more than a few hours (between 7am and 1am) without a text.

"I've got it in my pocket. It's rarely not on." He smiled. "If we do anything, we'll probably go see a movie, go to the mall, you know? Otherwise…I'll probably get a jumpstart on the massive pile of projects and studying that I've been neglecting all week." He shook his head, as if to clear it. "I love being at Dalton, but the course load is so much heavier than McKinley. No wonder there's no bullying problem at Dalton. There's so much work, that there's no time to even think about harassing someone." Kurt joked.

"I wish all schools were like that. Schools need to focus more on academics, instead of athletics. Athletics won't get a majority of students far in real life."

"I know what you mean. I was on two teams at McKinley besides Glee, one of them never would have gotten me a scholarship to any college in the country. The other had such an importance placed around the team that if you missed so much as one practice, you were practically killed."

"Much too much of a focus."

"Precisely." It was this moment that Kurt felt the telltale sign that his phone was buzzing. He fished it out of his pocket to see that Blaine was calling. Smiling, he pressed _answer._ "Hey Blaine."

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Kurt could hear the smile in Blaine's voice, and it made Kurt happy, to know that Blaine was smiling like a goofball, probably laying on his bed in his bedroom, on top of his blue and gold bedspread that he had just made.

"I'm feeling pretty well actually. I think it had something to do with having such an amazing nurse taking care of me yesterday." Carole heard this and chuckled. Kurt blushed and slipped out of the seat he was sitting in and walked into the other room, where neither Carole, Finn or Burt would be able to hear.

"Oh really? Was he pretty?" Blaine asked, playing along with the unspoken game.

"Gorgeous. Sadly though, didn't get to spend much quality time with him while I was resting. I would have loved to be able to make out with him for a bit. He was unbelievably hot, you know."

"Was he?"

"Oh yes. It would have been amazing to just lay on my bed all afternoon, slowly taking his shirt off, and kissing up and down his torso while teasing him to the point of no return. But sadly…never got that far." Kurt dramatically sighed.

"Well then, I'm gonna have to meet him some day. See what competition I have to face."

"Oh you already have Blaine," Kurt reminded him. "I'm sure you remember him. Tall, skinny, Asian…goes by the name of Wes?" Kurt wished he could have seen Blaine's face at that moment, it sure would have been priceless.

"Oh, now that's just mean." Kurt cackled.

"Aww, is Blainey-bear upset?" Kurt giggled as Blaine huffed.

"We had such a good thing going…and now you wanna go and ruin it with thoughts of Wes. How can you do this to me?" Blaine joked.

"Okay, okay. Enough with the Wes jokes. You know there's no one I want to make out with besides you."

"I know." Kurt could hear the smile return to Blaine's voice. "So, since we didn't actually get to do much yesterday, I was wondering if you wanted to…oh I don't know….go to the mall today? Maybe see a movie, go to lunch?"

"Why Blaine Anderson, are you asking me out on a date?" Kurt feigned shock. Kurt loved it when Blaine tried to be romantic. He wasn't always the best at it, but he tried. That's all that Kurt could really ask for.

"Absolutely not. It's just lunch and a movie. If we happen to make out for an hour afterwards than so be it." Kurt's heart fell after he heard that line.

" _Miss Congeniality,_ really Blaine, really? Did you have to quote a Sandra Bullock movie? Did you even _see_ how she looked before Michael Caine got his hands on her?"

"It's a movie about taking a woman who dresses like a complete dog, giving her a makeover, and turning her into something amazing. How do you not love that movie?" Kurt shuddered.

"Because I have taste?" It's honestly weird how much Kurt hates that movie. Though it's probably because Sandra Bullock reminds him (in appearance) of his mom quite a bit more than anything.

"Uh-huh, sure. So what do you say? Pick you up at noon? We'll hit the mall, see if anything is worth seeing? If not we'll spend the day shopping? You know you want to." Blaine teased.

"Blaine, you had me at 'spend the day shopping.'" Kurt smiled, and waited a few seconds before saying anything else. "Actually you had me at 'go to the mall today?' but I couldn't be _that_ easy to get, now could I?"

"Would be disappointed if you did. Now go start getting ready. I know you. If you don't start soon, I'll get there, and you'll still be getting dressed."

"Ha ha, very funny. I was actually in the middle of eating, so I think I'll finish that first."

"Love you Kurt, see you in a little while."

"Love you too, and I will be ready by noon." The two boys hung up and Kurt walked back into the kitchen to see his pancakes sitting there…all mushy from the syrup and cold from sitting there for the past 10 minutes. Clearly Carole had anticipated this because she quickly lifted up the partially eaten plate, and put down another plate with a fresh pancake on it.

"Here, a fresh one."

"Thanks Carole, you're the best!" Kurt went about eating, and mentally preparing what he was going to wear that day.

* * *

By the time they got to the mall that day, Kurt had not only gotten completely ready by the time Blaine got to his house, but had been waiting in the middle of the living room while Burt and Finn were watching some…sports game that Kurt couldn't quite figure out. He had knew it wasn't football, and it didn't look like basketball, but he didn't honestly care either way so he let it go. Kurt and Blaine were busy walking through the mall to get towards the movie theater when they spotted Mercedes and Tina outside Hot Topic. "Mercedes!" Kurt yelled out. "Tina!" The two girls whipped their heads around and saw their best-male friend and his boyfriend coming up to them.

"Hey Kurt, hey Blaine. Where are you two off to?" Tina asked.

"We were on our way to see what movies were playing." Kurt offered.

"Wanna join us?" Blaine asked. Tina and Mercedes looked at each other and shook their head.

"Oh no. We already looked. Nothing but blood, guts, gore and kid movies at the theater today. It sucks." Mercedes told them.

"Well that blows." Kurt replied. "Now what are we gonna do?"

"What we always do when we come to the mall?" Blaine asked. "You drag me from store to store, searching for 'just the right top' that you only ever find after we've been on our feet for 5 hours. Then after those 5 hours we finally go down to the food court where you refuse to get anything but a salad while I get something that actually tastes good. You eat your salad, and I pretend to not notice when you eat half of my fries." Kurt blushed and playfully slapped his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Hush you."

"Whatever you say, dear." Blaine played up the 'doting boyfriend' card a little bit, painting on the fake smile of boyfriends everywhere and the overenthusiastic agreement. However he did this as he put his arms around Kurt's waist and pulled him closer to him, his head resting perfectly on Kurt's shoulder. Mercedes and Tina just rolled their eyes at the public display of affection.

"Enough, you two are so sickening that its going to give me a cavity." Mercedes complained.

"Then isn't a good thing that your dad is a dentist?" Kurt shot back. The two of them just collapsed into giggles.

Over the next few hours the four of them went from shop to shop, window shopping, and actual shopping. Trying to figure out what they could afford, and what they couldn't. Blaine, being Blaine Anderson, didn't really have any problems in the affording things department, decided to take mental notes of what each of them wanted to get, but couldn't afford so he knew what to get them for their upcoming birthdays. Kurt especially. Blaine hated that his boyfriend kept feeling like crap lately, and on his birthday, he definitely wanted Kurt to feel amazing. If buying him a few special gifts, on top of the other things he had planned would get that result, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

It was nearly 6 o'clock and Mercedes and Tina had left them about an hour ago, being picked up by Tina's father, so it left Blaine and Kurt alone. Neither of them wanted this day to end, and Kurt was feeling fabulous. His headache from this morning had disappeared by the time Blaine had picked him up and it hadn't reared its ugly head again. The two of them were in high spirits, and had decided to check out a little eatery near the food court, but wasn't quite food court material. It was sit down and romantic, but not over the top.

After they sat down they both looked at the menus, and decided to do a dual order and share. Kurt would get the Chicken Alfredo, and Blaine would get a steak. Kurt never allowed steak to enter into the Hudmel household. But he wasn't a masochist either. He loved steak, and on the rare occasion he'd let himself have one. Neither of them could decide between the two, so they felt they could get the best of both worlds, "without the cheesy Miley Cyrus reference." Kurt muttered under his breath.

"Today has been amazing." Blaine revealed, smiling as he did so. Nodding, Kurt agreed.

"It was. Much better than yesterday at any rate."

"Having your tooth pulled, is just about the only thing that rates lower than yesterday." Blaine quipped and Kurt slightly shook his head and sighed. "What? You'd rather have your tooth pulled out?"

"Actually? Yes." Kurt shrugged. "Yesterday sucked, so bad. Nothing worked to get rid of the migraine. Absolutely nothing. At least when you have a tooth pulled, you get Novocain, or laughing gas. All I got was ineffective advil, and sleep."

"I see what you mean, but are migraines really that bad? I mean, I know they hurt like hell, but you've dealt with pain before. Are they truly, honestly that bad?" Kurt nodded.

"Let me put it like this. Imagine someone took this knife…" he picked up the serrated knife that came with the steak they ordered earlier. "…and jammed it into the side of your head, right around…here." He took his finger and placed it on Blaine's head in the exact same place that had been killing him the day before. "Now not only is the knife still sticking out of your head, but suddenly the room around you starts to spin, because you're losing blood. You're dizzy and the dizziness makes you nauseous. But not only that…the light in the room starts to weigh on you. It seems to get brighter and brighter, even though the wattage on the bulb stays the same. The sounds around you get increasingly loud and make you wish you were wearing ear plugs all the time. Now imagine all that at the same time. Imagine not being able to get rid of it. Imagine trying to sleep through it, and it not going away."

"Wow, they're really that bad?" Kurt nodded.

"That's how bad it was yesterday. What's worse is that… you can't cry over it. You can't cry over the physical pain that you're feeling because it makes the pain and the symptoms worse. It makes your head pound worse, it makes the nausea worse and increases everything tenfold. I learned that the hard way. Last week I started to cry through the migraine…and I shouldn't have. I felt so horribly that I broke down and started to cry…like literally sobbing. It made things so much worse that had I had access to a railroad spike I'd have shoved it into my head, because then at least there'd be a reason for it to hurt so much, you know?" But of course Blaine didn't know. He tried to understand, but he never had any migraines before. The worst he had was a small headache when he was 14 when he stressed himself out too hard with bullies. But it was nothing compared to what Kurt's been dealing with.

"Nothing helps?" Kurt shook his head.

"I've only had two, and I've only tried two things. Sleep and Advil. Clearly sleep works, and Advil does squat. I think I need to try another pain reliever, see if that helps."

"I've heard that Excedrin helps migraines. You see those commercials for them all the time on TV, that it really works for migraines." Blaine offered.

"I might try that. Sort of hoping though, that I don't get any more." Blaine slid closer to Kurt on the bench they had been sitting on and put his arm around Blaine's shoulder and pulled him closer, while kissing the side of his head.

"Me too Kurt, me too."

About 10 minutes later they paid for their food (or Blaine paid for their food and Kurt got annoyed that Blaine grabbed the check quicker than Kurt could even see it was down) and continued wandering around the mall. They wandered near an arcade that had music blasting from the speakers in every corner of the room. It was incredibly loud, and Kurt could feel the volume of the music in his head. "Blaine, let's get out of here." he asked desperately. "The music is too loud." Normally Blaine would have teased him at not being able to deal with the loudness of the music, but after their conversation in the restaurant, and the look on Kurt's face, Blaine knew something bad was about to happen.

* * *

Throughout the entire ride home, Kurt didn't say a word. For a guy who could barely keep his speech under 100 words a minute, it was quite a sight to see. He was holding his head in his hands, and trying not to move too much, for fear of increasing the nausea that was slowly starting to consume him.

As Kurt and Blaine walked into the Hudmel household and Kurt had been holding his head, red blotches covering his face. It was clear that Kurt was angry and likely had been trying to hold back tears and sobs, but no one could quite tell why he was in such a state. Burt was the first to notice something was wrong. "Oh my, Kurt, what's wrong?" He asked. Kurt just shook his head and went straight towards the first floor bathroom, intent on searching it for any Excedrin the family may have on hand, and to splash some water on his face in hopes of calming himself down. Burt just turned to look at Blaine with a death glare, but Blaine just shook his head.

"I think he has another migraine." Both Blaine and Burt sighed.

"What happened this time?" Carole asked, who was coming into the foyer from the living room, worry scattered all over her face.

"I'm not completely sure." Blaine responded. "We just finished having dinner and were walking around the mall. We walked by the arcade and there was excessively loud music blaring out of the speakers; Kurt asked if we could leave. I think it started to mess with his head a little bit. Then as we were walking to the car, someone's alarm went off and it didn't stop until we were already on our way back here. I had turned the radio off, but stupid me, forgot to turn my cellphone on vibrate and an extremely loud Katy Perry started to blare throughout the car when Wes called me. I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak. It was about then that I noticed he was tearing and trying desperately not to cry." All three of them had identical looks of pity on their face. "I just wish I had thought to turn my phone off…"

"Oh Blaine, its not your fault." Carole told him, putting her arm around him, trying to comfort the poor boy even just a little. "Your cell phone going off may have made it worse, but trust me, if he had a migraine brewing, no amount of silence was going to keep it at bay. Once it gets on a roll, it's going to keep coming. Don't beat yourself up, it's not your fault.

"Of course its not Blaine." Kurt reassured him, as he came out of the bathroom, walking over towards his boyfriend to pull him into a hug. "These things are not your fault. I sorta wish they were _someone's_ fault, then at least I could blame someone for them. Right now though, I'm just blaming Mother Nature. Because that's the only thing I can blame." Blaine nodded, returning the hug. Kurt turned to Carole and his father and asked "Do either of you have any Excedrin? Advil's just not working for me anymore, and I want to see if anything else will help with these things."

"I think I have a couple in my purse, hold on." Carole went to search her purse for the illusive pills while Burt just looked Kurt up and down.

"How bad is it, Kurt?" He asked, unsure of how the answer will make him feel.

"Nothing I can't handle." Carole came back into the room with two Excedrin's for her step-son, and a glass of water. He took them immediately and downed the entire glass of water. "Thanks Carole."

"Why don't you go on upstairs? Get some rest? Try and ward off the worst of the migraine?" Carole suggested. Kurt nodded, grabbed Blaine's hand and dragged him up the stairs before Carole or Burt could object. After they were already out of sigh though, Carole remarked "That…wasn't… what I meant."

* * *

The two were lying on Kurt's bed, Blaine the big spoon, Kurt the little, just trying to spend the last amount of time together as they could, before Burt kicked Blaine out for the night. The door was open, because as much as Blaine wanted some actual _privacy_ with Kurt, he wasn't stupid enough to risk Burt's wrath, even if Kurt's migraine would lessen the severity. "You feeling any better?" Kurt just shook his head, and Blaine could see the tears leaking out of his eyes once again. "Hey, it's alright. I know it hurts, but it's going to get better. Try and sleep." He said as he kissed Kurt's temple. Blaine pulled his Kurt closer to him, and snuggling in, giving Kurt the smallest amount of comfort he could.

"I hate this, Blaine." Kurt whispered. Blaine tightened his grip on Kurt's torso and whispered back.

"I know, I know you do."

"Why is this happening to me?" Blaine didn't know the answer. It wasn't something he was an expert in. Ask him why bullies were harassing you, and he could expertly tell you how to confront them, and what to do. Ask him why people were so mean and cruel, and he could be the most kindhearted and gentle person that you'd need at the time. But ask him why his boyfriend was in the worst physical pain he'd ever felt before, and Blaine was at a loss.

"I don't know Kurt, I honestly don't know." There they stayed. It wasn't for another hour that Burt came around to check on his son, and push Blaine out the door, but the sight he saw was not what he was expecting. He had expected his son to be lying on his bed, and Blaine to be sitting there, the two of them talking about the latest issue of _Rogue,_ or whatever magazine it was Kurt worshipped, but it wasn't. He came across both boys, curled up next to each other, fully clothed, sleeping. Just sleeping. Though if he were to ask anyone to guess which one had the smile and which one had the grimace on his face, no one would ever be able to guess.

Burt decided to leave them be, and call the Andersons, to let them know that Blaine was safe, and likely not going to be returning home that night.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carole suggests that Kurt go to the doctor, but Kurt outright refuses the idea. Burt explains why, and Kurt gets an academic proposition he can't refuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and none of them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.
> 
> The French used in this chapter is a combination of my 7 years of High School french, and an English-to-French online translator. I'm sorry if any of it is wrong.

When the two boys woke up early the next morning, they were both surprised to find that they were actually together, in the same bed. Neither of them had thought Burt would let them actually sleep in the same room, in the same bed…ever. It was something they wanted to cherish, but at the same time, had to worry over. "Do you think he remembered you were here?" Kurt wondered aloud, as the two of them quickly got out of bed, intent on getting Blaine out of the house before Burt woke up.

"I don't know, honestly. He knew I was up here…. He saw me come up last night….he was standing right there." Kurt nodded.

"This is so not like him." Kurt shook his head, before seeing a piece of paper taped to the doorframe, that neither had noticed before. He walked over towards it, picked it up and read it out loud.

 _Boys,_

 _Don't freak out and try and sneak Blaine out this morning. I know that he stayed here last night._

 _So do his parents. I'm not mad. We'll talk about it later._

 _Burt_

"Why the hell would your dad _let_ me sleep here last night? I mean, after the time with Rachel's party….I thought that'd be the last thing to ever happen."

"Seriously, I thought I was the one with the addled brain." Kurt quipped. Blaine frowned, not liking it when Kurt talked about himself like that.

"Don't say that." He told Kurt, as he made his way back over towards the bed, gesturing for Kurt to do the same. He looked at Kurt's alarm clock on his end table and saw that it was only quarter to 6 in the morning on a Sunday. "Come on, it's not time to get up yet. Let's go back to sleep." Kurt frowned but walked over to the bed and crawled in first so that Blaine could once again take up his spot as big spoon. However, Kurt wasn't quite interested in going back to sleep. They had been sleeping since about 8pm the night before, and that was quite a long time…especially for Blaine who hadn't been suffering from a migraine. He rolled over in Blaine's arms and kissed Blaine's perfect lips. Kurt was in the mood for a make-out session, and he was going to get one. He hadn't had one in a few days, and when he was determined, he got what he wanted. Blaine returned the kiss, smiling into it. "Oh, so is that how you want to play it…" he murmured against Kurt's mouth.

Not saying anything Kurt pulled Blaine on top of him and then quickly wrapped his arms around his neck, to bring their mouths closer together. Blaine's tongue left his mouth, running along the edge of Kurt's in silent request, to which Kurt immediately opened his mouth to. They continued in this fashion for quite a while, their tongues dancing, lips connected every moment that was physically possible for the two young men. It was just them. It was a while until they broke apart, catching their breaths. Blaine stayed on top of Kurt, resting his weight on his elbows, and resting his forehead onto Kurt's. Glancing up into Blaine's soulful brown eyes, he smiled. "I love you, Blaine Daniel Anderson." Blaine didn't even try to hide the grin that broke out on his face.

"I love you too, Kurt Elizabeth Hummel." Blaine leaned down again to capture Kurt's lips. Kurt was extremely happy that they were finally having some alone time. Even if it was with Finn and his parents right next door, and across the hall. As Blaine lightly nipped at Kurt's bottom lip, Kurt's hands went up to mess with Blaine's hair. Blaine moved his mouth down towards Kurt's jaw, and collarbone, kissing, sucking, and nipping as he went. Kurt's heart began to beat faster. Kurt moaned at the sensations that Blaine was causing to course throughout his body, settling within a very special region. Instinctively Kurt's hips pushed up against Blaine's, causing the older boy to moan appreciatively. "Ohh… Kurt.." Blaine brought his lips back up to Kurt's and kissed him passionately. They had never quite done this before. They had only gone so far as to make-out, making sure that neither of their lower bodies were anywhere near each other, for fear of scaring the other off. Which in hindsight seemed a little stupid now, since it seemed neither of them truly had a problem with it.

Kurt's little Kurt, quickly began to get harder as Blaine kissed him, and was subconsciously grinding into him. The two broke their mouths apart after a few minutes, in order to catch their breath. "Wow…" Kurt spoke, because honestly there were no other words coming to mind. That had been the best thing he'd experienced in a long time.

"Seriously…" Kurt leaned back up to capture Blaine's lips, but Blaine held him off, a bit hesitant. "Babe, you're parents are right across the hall…" Kurt pouted, making Blaine laugh. "C'mon Kurt. I don't feel comfortable doing this with them home…" Kurt sighed.

"Fine, but we will be continuing this at a later date." Kurt glared at him, which once again made Blaine laugh.

"I'd love a rain check." Blaine smiled as he rolled off to the side of Kurt and pulled their bodies flush together. It was times like these that made all the bad ones worth it. When Kurt had gotten bullied at McKinley. When Blaine had gotten harassed at his old school. When Kurt had his migraines, and couldn't do anything with Blaine besides tear up in his arms. All the pain and suffering the two boys had gone through, was made worth it, when they could spend even just a moment of time together, by themselves. They fell back to sleep in that position, both of them smiling, happier than either of them were the previous week.

* * *

When the two walked downstairs later on, they saw Burt and Carole sitting at the kitchen counter sipping coffee. They were chatting about something Kurt didn't quite want to know about, so he ignored it and walked into the kitchen to pour himself and Blaine a cup of coffee. "Hi guys."

"Hi Kurt, Hi Blaine." Burt said to the shorter boy who was waiting in the hallway, wondering if it was actually safe to come out. At his name, he walked out as if he had just come down from Kurt's room.

"Hi.." he said, a slight blush rose in his cheeks. Burt had seen the obviously guilty look on Blaine's face, and brushed it off. Blaine wasn't quite so easy to brush it off, not after what he and Kurt had almost gotten up to earlier that morning.

"Don't look so guilty. I know exactly what happened last night. You fell asleep, while you were comforting my son. I had every intention of kicking you out of the house last night around 11, but decided against it. You two were just so peaceful." Okay it wasn't a complete lie…Kurt seemed a little peaceful, Blaine seemed unnerved that Kurt had been in so much pain, but at the same time, knowing that Blaine cared about Kurt that much gave Burt a warm feeling about the boy whom a few months ago, Burt would have gladly killed had Kurt asked him to. "I called your mom, and let her know that you were staying here, and that you likely wouldn't be home. She understood."

"Thanks, Burt." Blaine smiled, appreciative of the consideration the older man had given him. He knew that had Finn and Quinn decided to fall asleep together, they would be broken apart before you could say 'get out of my house you hussy.' "Speaking of, how's your head feeling Kurt?" Kurt just grimaced.

"I'd wish people would stop asking me that. I'm not always in pain…" He sighed. It was one of the downsides to getting frequent migraines. Everyone around you always wanted to know how you were doing. How were you _feeling_ , how was the _pain_ , was it too _bright_ for you,was it too _loud_ for you. Kurt had been treated differently all his life for one thing or another, and the last thing he wanted was special treatment in his own home.

"We just want to know how your head is feeling, Kurt. We know how much the migraines have been hurting you lately." This was another thing that Kurt disliked. He disliked pity. No, scratch that, he hated it. He does not tolerate pity well. He didn't when his mom died, he didn't when his dad had the heart attack, and he didn't when he was bullied, so why would he start now?

"I'm fine. My head isn't hurting, there are no other symptoms, and I can do everything else that I planned on doing today. Which mostly considered of homework, homework, oh and look more homework." He drawled out.

"I have been a little worried about them though," Carole told the three men in the room. "Migraines usually mean something. They aren't usually a sign of nothing. Maybe we should get Kurt checked out by a doctor."

At the same time Burt said "That's a good idea…"

Kurt firmly said "Hell no."

Everyone looked at Kurt, surprised that he would take such a tone with them when it came to his health. "But why Kurt?" Blaine asked, perplexed at his boyfriend's reluctance to see a doctor, that could possibly do something to prevent any more migraines from occurring.

"I don't like doctors." Kurt stated simply. "I never have, and I never will." With that, he picked up his coffee, and walked into the living room to watch some T.V.

"Why doesn't he like doctors?" Carole asked, a little affronted, because she is a nurse after-all."

"It all happened after Elizabeth died…" Burt started. This was a story he didn't like to tell, but he figured they had a right to know why Kurt hated doctors so much. "When Elizabeth died…it was very, very sudden. We had little to no warning whatsoever. I remember the day we found out she had cancer, perfectly." He then went on to tell them about how she had woken up, unable to breathe in the middle of the night, forcing Burt out of his slumber. He couldn't help her, except to call an ambulance. When it got there, they had to intubate her, in order to get her to breathe even a little bit. "It's where they stick a long tube down your windpipe, so there's a steady flow of air into it, that isn't impeded by your body…" Burt told Blaine, who looked a little confused. He went on to say how they MRI'd her chest, and found 3 tumors inside her lungs, as well as a tumor on her spinal chord. Burt's voice began to break around then. After a few minutes of pulling himself together, he continued. "They found in total, 8 different tumors that were inside of her. Three in her lungs, 2 on her spinal chord, 1 on her liver, 1 on her rib cage, and one on her right femur. She had blown past stage 1, 2 and 3 of cancer right into stage 4 without anyone catching it. It had spread to all different parts of her body, and she died 10 days after we initially got the diagnosis."

Then the proverbial light bulb went off in both Blaine and Carole's minds. "So when you had the heart attack, and went into the hospital…" Burt nodded.

"My guess is that he flashbacked to the days of his mom's time in the hospital, and was subconsciously counting down from 10."

"My gosh Burt….you were in a coma for 9 days." Carole cried out, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.

"I know." They all let this information settle in, before Blaine left to find Kurt. He found Kurt in the living room, watching, or rather looking at the TV, that had been placed on early morning Sunday Service. From this fact, Blaine could clearly tell that Kurt was upset. He sat down beside Kurt and gathered him up in his arms.

"I'm not going to the doctors, Blaine." Kurt told him, but let him be pulled into Blaine's warm embrace.

"I know you don't want to, but I just want what's best for you. I don't like seeing you go through these migraines." Blaine kissed the side of his head. Kurt snuggled into Blaine and looked up to stare into his face.

"I know you don't Blaine, and neither do I like going through them." He smiled, at his little joke. "But I will do anything before I go to the doctors."

"But doctors can do so much for you! They can figure out if something is going on in that brain of yours," Blaine nuzzled Kurt's head after saying so. "They can give you a prescription to make them go away. Don't you want to know why you're getting them?"

"Of course I do Blaine, but not at the expense of going to a doctor."

"Why?"

"Why are you pushing this?" Kurt asked, starting to get angry.

"Because I don't want you to have migraines, when you don't have to. Because I don't want you to sleep half the day away when you have one. I love you Kurt, and I don't want to see you in pain. If a doctor can prevent that, I'm all for it." Blaine spelled it out for his boyfriend, like he was talking to a five year old.

"But I'm not." Kurt removed himself from Blaine's embrace, got up from the couch and moved to the other side of the living room, grabbing the remote off the table and started to flip through the channels to find something on. Blaine just sighed in defeat, knowing that until Kurt realizes that a doctor is the most logical choice for his problems, he's not going to win the war he was fighting against migraines.

Meanwhile back in the kitchen, Carole held onto Burt, comforting him as much as she could, but still her pragmatic, and nurse-like brain kept a hold of her. "Burt, there still could be something wrong with him. He needs to be checked out by a doctor." Burt nodded.

"I know."

* * *

Over the next week and a half, Kurt wasn't as great as he wished he had been. He got his massive history term paper finished, he read the three books he needed to for his final exam which was slowly approaching in British Lit, and was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he'll never make an A in History, no matter how much he tried. Those were all good, but on the bad side…he and Blaine still weren't quite the same after their argument on Sunday over him going to the doctor. Kurt didn't quite know why Blaine was so upset about him not willing to go, because its Kurt's problem, not Blaine's. They still talked, they still hung out, but there wasn't the same easy-going honesty as there once was. They hadn't worked out the problem yet, and Kurt wasn't sure if they would until he folded and went to the doctor, or Blaine folded and stopped pressuring him to go.

He was currently in the middle of his French II class where they were practicing conjugating verbs, which was boring for him, since he was practically fluent in the language. He sat there, conjugated them out rather quickly, and then sat staring at the wall for the rest of the class, thinking about what he had in store. "Monsieur Hummel?" his teacher, Madame Monroe asked him. "Pourquoi vous ne faites pas l'attention?" (Mister Hummel, Why aren't you paying attention?)

"Pardon, Madame. Je suis desole. Mais je suis déjà aisé en français, et peut conjuguer ces verbes dans mon sommeil." Suddenly everyone was staring at him, no clue what he had just said. (Pardon me, M'am. I'm sorry, but I'm already fluent in French and can conjugate these verbs in my sleep.)

"Alors, pourquoi prenez-vous cette classe?" (Then why are you taking this class?)

"J'ai besoin d'une classe optionelle." The teacher nodded, but still looked slightly put off. (I needed an elective)

"Pourquoi vous n'avez pas pris une autre langue, comme Italien ou Espagnol?" (Why didn't you take another language, like Italian, or Spanish?)

"Je suis aisé en Espagnol, aussi. La classe Italienne était pleine avant que je pourrais aie enregistré." She waved him to come to the front of the class. (I am also fluent in Spanish. The Italian class was full by the time I got to register.)

"Allez ici." (Come here.) Kurt got up and walked over towards the teacher. In any other situation, the class would be 'ooohing' but since he had just carried on a full conversation, in French with her, they knew he couldn't possibly be in trouble. She pulled him out into the hallway and quickly told the students to keep conjugating the verbs on the board. What she didn't see when she stepped out of the room, was half the class getting up and running over towards Kurt's desk to copy off his paper.

"So, may I ask you something?" She asked her, new prized pupil, "how did you become fluent in French _and_ Spanish? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think public schools offered that advanced language courses." Kurt barely held in the burst of laughter that threatened to erupt from the pit of his stomach.

"Oh no. Hell no, McKinley's language department, was dismal at best. My mother was a foreign language teacher before she had me. I spent my childhood speaking more French and Spanish, than speaking English, much to my Dad's chagrin. She felt that it was important for people to be able to speak more than one language, and wanted me to be multi-lingual from a young age." His French teacher nodded.

"She did an admirable job. I'd love to meet her, if she did such a great job with you as a child." Kurt's face fell.

"She…died 8 years ago." This time it was Madame Monroe's turn to have her face fall.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized, for no reason, except that it's socially customary. Kurt waved it off.

"It's fine. After she died, I mostly stuck to English, because my dad couldn't speak French or Spanish, but once I got to where I could start taking foreign languages in school, it all came rushing back to me."

"Well that clearly explains why you're the only one who gets A+'s in my class." Kurt gave her a small smile. "Would you be interested in tutoring, as in being one, not benefiting from?" Kurt was hesitant. With Warblers, and the workload he had, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to take on something like this. Apparently his teacher noticed his wariness. "Are there any classes, that you're having trouble in? Because becoming a tutor in any class, can qualify you for some extra credit in a class you so choose." This was news to Kurt. News he definitely needed, because he was desperate to get a 4.0 this semester, and he wasn't going to do it if he didn't get his History grade up. Extra credit was a privilege given at Dalton, for those who worked hard, and still had trouble. No one would give extra credit to those who did not work hard to begin with. Tutoring others showed that you had the mental and academic discipline to do the work.

"Well…I'm getting a C in History…" She smiled warmly at him.

"Perfect! So how about it?"

"I'll think about it."

"Please say yes. You're the only student at Dalton who qualifies as a French tutor. I only allow those with a 97% average or better." Kurt's heart swelled with pride at being the only person in the _school_ to have a French grade in such a high percentile. It was so far from McKinley that he was about to burst.

"I'll sleep on it, and let you know tomorrow."

With that she motioned for him to reenter the room, everyone was quietly back at their seats working. Though, when Kurt got back to his seat, he took one look at his desk, rolled his eyes and said, "Madam, my work is missing."

* * *

Later on that night Kurt was sitting in the middle of his living room, watching TV with Burt and Finn. Well Kurt was half watching TV, and half reading _Vogue._ Burt had been asking the two of them how school had been. "School was school." Finn replied. "Though we're doing some awesome stuff, getting ready for Nationals." Kurt groaned. Finn looked weirdly at Kurt and shrugged.

"How about you Kurt? How's Dalton?"

"Pretty good actually. I discovered that I have the highest French average than every student in the school today." Burt stared at him, shock written all over his face. "Why do you look so alarmed? Like you didn't know I was fluent…"

"It's not that I didn't know you were amazing at French, but that you'd actually be able to find that statistic out…" Burt corrected, and Kurt launched into how he and the French teacher had an entire conversation in French while the other boys stared in wonder, and how she asked him to become a tutor.

"I just don't know if I should take on tutoring. If I was getting paid for it, I could see doing it, but all I'd get is the ability for extra work for Chemistry to get Extra Credit." Kurt shrugged his shoulders and sighed not knowing what to do. "I mean, I need the extra credit for History, but I'm not sure if tutoring would be the greatest way to get it."

"Are there others ways of getting Extra Credit?" Finn asked. Kurt nodded.

"Ask my history professor." Kurt deadpanned. "All I have to do is go and ask Dr. Martin if he'll allow me some extra credit…the only difference is if I ask him for extra credit…he can deny it. If I go to him with tutoring behind me, he can't refuse me."

"Well excuse me for pointing out what seems obvious Kurt, but I think you should go for it." Burt told him.

"Dad, I would but think about it…There's only 24 hours in a weekday. I'm sleeping from midnight to 5 usually. I'm bathing, dressing, and basically getting ready for school between 5 and 6:30. I'm driving to school between 6:30 and 7. I'm in school from 7 until 3:30. I'm at Warblers practice from 3:30 to 5. I'm driving home from 5 to 5:30. I'm doing homework from 5:30 to 6:30, when I start cooking dinner, until about 8, and then it's back to more homework. My life is so tedious and scheduled that there's literally no time for tutoring except on weekends, and if you think I'm giving up my weekends, you're delusional."

"I see your point…" Burt admitted the problem.

"Didn't you say that the Warblers were going to be cutting down on practices, now that you're not competing anymore?" Finn asked.

"True…but there still only cutting back on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We still have practices Mondays, and Wednesdays, and Fridays."

"So you can tutor kids on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Just try it. If it'll bring up your history grade?" Burt offered up.

"To be honest…if I were to continue having those migraines, I'm not sure I could handle it. I wouldn't want to half-ass helping anyone because my head was hurting, you know?" It wasn't that Kurt didn't want the extra credit for history, he really did. He really wanted that 4.0 for the semester. He wanted to prove to his father that he hadn't spent all the money on tuition for nothing. But at the same time, the migraines would really kill any tutoring time if they interfered.

"You know Kurt, there is one way to stop the migraines…or maybe at least be able to get rid of them quicker after they start…"

"Don't say it Dad. I'm not going to see a doctor." Kurt adamantly told his father. "You know that I don't trust doctors."

"But Kurt, your migraines aren't something to be taken lightly. We need to get them checked out. They could be something serious." Burt tried to reason with his son.

Burt knew the reason that Kurt hated doctors. On some level, he understood his hatred and agreed with it, but on another level completely, he knew that the doctors that operated on him after his heart attack, saved his life. He, himself, had started to trust doctors after he came back from the brink of death, and Kurt needed to learn that doctors weren't all bad. Carole was a nurse, and worked with doctors every day. Kurt trusted her, why couldn't he trust that she knew he needed to see someone about the migraines he was getting?

"I'm not going to the doctor Dad." Kurt said, with an air of finality about it. He stood up and stormed upstairs into his room. Flopping onto his bed, he sighed. Why was everyone so interested in trying to get him to go to the doctor? What was a doctor going to do? Give him some pain relievers that wouldn't work? The Excedrin that he tried the week prior didn't work. The Advil he tried didn't work. What makes them think that any prescription drug a doctor could give him, would make them go away? It was disheartening to know that the only thing they wanted him to do about his migraines was _see a doctor._ There were a thousand other things he could try first.

Kurt quickly grabbed his laptop off his desk and flipped it open and waited for it to turn on. As soon as it was, he typed in "migraine remedies" into the search bar. He found a bunch of different things that could help him get rid of the headaches, and he was going to try each and every one of them before he would ever go to a doctor.

One home remedy says that caffeine helps combat migraines. _'Well then, I'll just have to go to The Lima Bean, with Blaine more often.'_

Increasing niacin and magnesium can help reduce migraines. _'Well then, I'm just going to have to eat more salads.'_

Achieving an orgasm, can combat migraines. _'Well then, maybe if I show this to Blaine, he and I can figure out a way to stop my migraines together…'_


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt has a very interesting discussion with his French teacher, Mrs. Monroe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and none of them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.
> 
> Author's note #2: This chapter introduces a new Invisible Illness, and a way of explaining how autoimmune diseases affects your life called The Spoon Theory. While in the chapter, the speaker uses pencils and pens, it is the same concept, and I want to thank Christine Miserandino, a woman with lupus who originally created the Theory. I highly suggest reading the original, and not just my mutilated version. Thank you.

The next day, Kurt had told Madame Monroe that he would be able to tutor students on Tuesday and Thursdays starting the next week. "I have Warblers practice every other day of the week. I live 20 minutes away and I don't board here." She nodded, and told him that she would discuss the idea of extra credit with his History teacher after he tutored a few students, which she could tell him right then, he'd have to work with the next day, seeing as today was Wednesday and there was a Warbler meeting that afternoon. He had also told her that he might have to pull out of tutoring due to health reasons if things got worse. "I've been having a lot of migraines lately, and I'm not completely sure how much they're going to affect being able to help others. I can hardly pay attention in class when I have them, let alone try and teach the material to someone else."

"Oh you poor thing. I've had migraines before, they're just awful." Kurt nodded, for once completely agreeing with everything a teacher says.

"That they are. Do you get them often?" She shook her head.

"Not anymore. I used to get them quite often, every few days in fact for about 2 years."

"That's been happening to me too. Like, every other day I'll get a headache…and every other time I'll have a headache, it will actually be a migraine." Kurt commiserated with his French teacher. "I hate it, especially because the only way I've found to make them go away is to sleep them away. It's awful."

"Indeed it is. Have you been to see a doctor?" Kurt's expression changed from one of intrigue, to one of despair. He shook his head, negative.

"I… um. I don't like doctors." Kurt said succinctly. He felt a little uncomfortable, as his teacher just looked at him, clearly thinking about something. It was like she was looking him over, trying to gauge whether or not he was mentally stable or not for not going to a doctor when clearly he needed to.

"I used to hate doctors too." She confessed. "But doctors can do great things. In fact, if it weren't for doctors, I'd probably be living with a perpetual migraine." Kurt just looked at her, curiosity written all over his face. It wasn't every day when he found someone who had migraines as often as he did, even if she didn't have them quite as often anymore.

"If you don't mind my asking, what was causing them?" Kurt asked her, careful not to use a very insulting phrase like 'what's wrong with you?' that most kids his age were wont to use in situations like this.

"I don't mind. After about a year and a half of having them, I finally broke down and went to see a doctor, where it was discovered that I have a disease, called Multiple sclerosis. Have you ever heard of that?" Kurt nodded slightly.

"Vaguely. I don't know anything about it though." She nodded.

"It's an autoimmune disease. To put it simply, my body is attacking the protective barrier to my neurons, the parts of the body that work with the nervous system." Kurt nodded, remembering a little bit of that from his biology and psychology classes.

"The myelin sheath, right?" Madame Monroe smiled and nodded.

"That's right. When I went to the doctor to find out why I was having all those headaches and migraines, they found little white lesions on my brain, which are indicative of MS. Now that I'm on medication for the disease, and medication to prevent the migraines, I can live a relatively normal life, if a little bit…altered." Kurt's interested was definitely piqued when she said that her life was altered a little bit due to having Multiple Sclerosis.

"What do you mean altered? Didn't you just say you lived a normal life?" She shook her head, sadly as she looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Listen, the bell is about to ring, and you have to get to class." She told him, as she glanced at the clock, pulling out post-it note, and scribbling something on it. "What lunch period do you have?"

"First, why?" She smiled.

"Perfect. Why don't you bring your lunch here today, and we can talk about this a little more then? Because if you're not in 2nd block in 30 seconds, you're going to be late." Kurt's face went white, and he quickly bent down to grab his things to rush out the door. "Wait." She called out to him, and held out the piece of paper she had been writing on a moment before. "A pass, so you don't get in trouble." She smiled, and Kurt took it, muttering a quick thank you before rushing out the door.

Kurt rushed out the door and walked quickly towards his next class: AP European History. Even though he had a pass, he definitely didn't want to miss any more of the lecture for that day than he had to. Not when he was already getting a C in the class. Though hopefully he'd get some extra credit he could do soon to pull his grade up. When he got to class, he gave the slip to his teacher, Mr. Marlowe and quickly took his seat.

He tried to pay attention as his teacher was going over World War II, but he just couldn't quite concentrate enough. It was all blurring together. Italy, China, United States, United Kingdom, France…how could anyone keep track of which sides any of them were on? Especially when all that was going on in his head, was trying to recall any and all information he had ever heard of about Multiple Sclerosis. He tried taking notes, but his subconscious apparently was more interested in drawing out what he could remember of what a neuron looked like, including the myelin sheath, that was being destroyed in his French teacher's body.

* * *

When he got back to his French classroom after he grabbed his lunch from his locker, he found his teacher sitting at her desk, grading a few papers. He knocked on her door, "Hi." She looked up and smiled.

"Welcome back. Take a seat and start eating, while I finish up grading this last test, then we can talk."

"Sounds good." Kurt took a seat in the front row and started munching on his chicken salad, with extra amounts of spinach and arugula. He had packed this salad special after finding out the night before about niacin and magnesium helping to ward off migraines. It was something he desperately wanted to try and see if it worked, so he did. He looked at his teacher, who was busy grading what looked to be the test they had taken two days before on the imperative. A very simple tense if you asked Kurt, but sadly no one ever did. As he looked at her, he couldn't help but wonder 'She doesn't look sick…' It was true, she most certainly didn't look sick at all. She looked like a normal woman in her 30's. Red hair, high cheekbones, thin arms and legs. She looked like the picture perfect definition of health, yet there was this disease that continually fought against her. Something that was debilitating her enough to give her migraines. If it was fighting against her neurons, what other problems could her Multiple sclerosis be causing her?

She noticed him looking at her, and she tilted her head as she asked "What?" smiling as she did so.

"It's nothing…It's just…I can't help but think that…you don't look sick." She nodded, as she marked the grade at the top of the paper, a C, if Kurt could tell properly, and placed it onto the 'done' pile she had accumulated on the side of her desk.

"Most people with MS don't look sick. It's not something that affects anything visibly. "

"Then how can doctors know you have it, if you can't see that you have it?" Kurt asked…trying to make some sense of it. "I don't know if that came out right…" She just smiled, as if she was used to these questions all the time.

"It's fine, I know what you mean, and in fact if I had looked up my symptoms before going to the doctor, and then presented him with an idea that I had MS, he or she probably wouldn't have accepted it. It takes a lot of different tests that can distinguish MS from other autoimmune diseases."

"Like what?"

"Well there are three types of tests that can be done to find out. An MRI, you know what those are?" Kurt nodded.

"I had one done after I got a concussion in freshman year." He said, shivering at the memory of Puck and Karofsky tossing him into the dumpster, and him landing on his head. She looked at him curiously, but neglected to ask about why he had a concussion, probably assuming that he was a teenage boy, and it's hard to go through the teenage years without one.

"I had an MRI of my brain, where they found those little white lesions, I told you about earlier." Kurt nodded. "The second test is an evoked potential, in which they place electrodes and magnets around your body to test how quickly sensations are sent from neuron to neuron. They did that one on me as well. Then finally, there's a lumbar puncture, where they stick a large needle into your spine." Kurt shivered, and his teacher laughed. "Yea, that was my reaction to. I downright refused to have that one done."

"I can't imagine having someone sticking something in my spine…"

"Neither could I. I didn't want to risk the person performing it piercing my spinal cord and paralyzing me, though it all went to hell two years ago when I gave birth to my daughter and had to have an epidural." She chuckled and Kurt just looked pained.

"Ouch." She shrugged.

"It's a cinch compared to the pain of childbirth." She winked at him.

"Glad I'll never have to find out that pain."

"Trust me, you've dealt with pain that's just as bad, just localized in a different area, especially if you've had as bad migraines as you said you have."

"It's not really the pain," Kurt admitted to her, something he hadn't really admitted to anyone else. "But the other symptoms. I can handle pain. I've always handled pain." He trailed off towards the end, not looking Madame Monroe in her eye. "But I can't handle not being able to walk around outside, because of the light from the sun. I can't handle listening to music, and hearing it pound my head into a bloody pulp. I've always dealt with pain well….it's the other things that are new." Kurt looked away from his teacher's eyes, when she put a sad look on her face.

"I know what happened at your old school, Kurt. All your teachers were informed by the principal that you transferred due to the escalation of bullying." Kurt sighed.

"I dealt with being thrown into lockers, and noogies in middle school…but these migraines make everything seem juvenile." He admitted. "Though the thought of a noogie now is making my head hurt. Okay, best not to mention one of those to my stepbrother, or he might decide to give me a brotherly one for old time's sake." he made a mental note.

"That's because they are, Kurt." She reminded him. "Bullying is incredibly juvenile on the part of the bully, and not something that should ever be done. However dealing with a migraine, is different than dealing with a locker check. A migraine will debilitate you if you're not careful." She saw Kurt swallow the lump forming in his throat, and felt a swell of sympathy for the poor boy in front of her. "They have debilitated you before, haven't they?"

Kurt nodded carefully. "Last Friday…I had one so bad, that the Warblers cut the entire meeting short, because I couldn't be in the same room with them, without wanting to chop my ears off to stop the sound from killing me." He explained.

"I know how you feel. When I had my migraines, I was living with 3 suitemates in college, all of them real prissy girls, who liked to shriek and didn't really have much compassion for others, if you know what I mean."

"Heh…. Yea, I've been there. I mean… I know those types of girls, not that I've lived with any of them."

"Well back then, I would get them all the time, and I tried not to let it bother me, or let it show that it bothered me. But eventually I couldn't help it. I had to tell them to shut up, and keep their music down, but it didn't quite work out the way I had hoped it would."

"What happened?"

"They threw it back at me, and decided to be extra loud and obnoxious. I ended up having to switch suites in the middle of my first year of graduate school due to their shenanigans. But it was in my new suite, that I met my best friend, who happened to be a med student, and when I explained to her my symptoms, she told me to see a doctor, because it sounded like MS. Now I had no clue what that was. But she was insistent, so I went to see the doctor."

"Just like that? You went to see the doctor? I thought you said you hated doctors."

"Oh I do. I still do actually. But I've learned that my health is more important than my hatred of doctors. My MS isn't going to go away. It's a lifelong battle that I will never get rid of, and the only way I'm going to successfully battle it until I die due to old age, or some other disease, is if I use the medicine my doctor prescribes, and do what she tells me to."

"But what made you decide to see a doctor then?" Kurt asked, bewildered that she would bend so easily.

"My friend wouldn't stop bugging me until I did." She smirked. Kurt just laughed, and immediately thought of Blaine. Blaine who hadn't mentioned Kurt going to the doctor once since their argument over the weekend, but at the same time, Kurt knew he still wanted him to go. Kurt's laugh quickly turned into a grimace without realizing it. But she did. "What's wrong?"

"My boyfriend…I know he wants me to see a doctor about the migraines, but I really, really don't want to."

"How come?" she asked. Kurt apparently seemed a little hesitant so she spoke again. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I know what it's like to dislike doctors with a fiery passion, maybe I can help?" Kurt still seemed hesitant but, he really liked Madame Monroe, and it was weird. He felt like he knew a lot about her, yet he really knew very little. There was something about her that just screamed relatable.

"When my mom died… She… well the doctors couldn't save her. It was too late to save her life when they found the cancer. We didn't have enough time to prepare for her death." Kurt told her, something he hadn't told anyone at Dalton, not even Blaine. Though Blaine knew through his father telling the story. It was just too hard. He didn't even tell anyone in New Direction or at McKinley this information, so why did he feel so easy talking about it with Madame Monroe? "She died… very soon after she was diagnosed."

"How long, if you don't mind me asking." Kurt took a deep breath.

"A week and a half. The doctors didn't know it was going to be that quick. They gave her a prognosis of 6 to 12 months. Not 6 to 12 days."

"That must have been so hard for you. How long ago was it?"

"I was 9 years old when she died."

"You poor thing… Losing a parent is hard at any age, and losing her so young…"

"It's alright. I'm over her death. I still love her and miss her but… I've got a new family now. Shortly before I transferred my dad got remarried, and now I have a stepmother and a stepbrother, both of whom I completely adore."

"Still… it must be hard." Kurt nodded. Kurt looked at the clock on the wall, and noticed he only had a couple minutes left of lunch, before he had to go to British Lit with Mrs. Allen. Monroe must have noticed the time too, because she spoke again. "Why don't you finish up? Lunch is almost over, and you have to head out."

"Yea, I should get going." He said, cleaning up the garbage from his lunch. "Thanks for…explaining some of that…to me. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't the main thing running through my head all throughout last class."

"Did I answer some of your questions?" Kurt nodded.

"Most of them. Though with my overactive brain I'll probably have 20 more by the end of today." She smiled, and stood up.

"Well, if you have any other questions, feel free to come by and ask. I don't mind answering them. If I can educate one person about my illness, then I feel I've done my duty to the cause."

"What cause?" Kurt asked. She smiled, but pulled out another post-it note and wrote something down on it, and gave it to him.

"Go on, get out of here. Get to class." Kurt left the room, but looked at the piece of paper, with the name: butyoudontlooksick . com

* * *

When Kurt got home that night, he jumped on his computer and looked up the website that Madam Monroe had given him earlier in the day. As he looked around the site, he noticed that it was all about types of diseases called Invisible Illnesses. Diseases like Multiple sclerosis, lupus, fibromyalgia, diabetes, arthritis, anemia, Chron's Disease, Lyme Disease and a whole list of others. He skimmed through the site, reading some of the articles, and learned a little bit more about what _cause_ his teacher had been talking about. It was disheartening to realize that there were people out there living with illnesses like this. That no one would ever be able to know about, unless they were told about it. He most certainly wouldn't have been able to figure out that Madame Monroe had MS unless she admitted it. It made him wonder… _how many other people in his life, had an illness like this, that he couldn't see?_

Later on he was called down for dinner; they were having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. It was a Kurt favorite, something his mom used to make for him all the time as a child. The recipe changed slightly once Carole was in charge of making it, but it was still delicious. After Burt's heart attack, the meatballs, changed into part beef, and part chicken to cut the health risks in half, without cutting all the flavor. As they were all eating and talking, Kurt wasn't, which was very odd for him. They all noticed, but none of them wanted to be the first one to bring it up. While he sat, staring at his plate, still thinking about his teacher's fight with Multiple sclerosis, his family was having a half-assed rock-paper-scissor match to figure out who was going to ask him what was up. Burt lost.

"So Kurt, are you feeling okay?" He asked gruffly, unsure of how to approach his son acting so strangely.

"Huh? Oh, what? Yea… I'm fine." Kurt answered distractedly. The rest of them just looked at each other for a moment, before turning their attention back to Kurt.

"Seems like there's something else that might be on your mind?" Kurt looked at Carole, who spoke last and nodded.

"Have you ever heard of Multiple sclerosis?" He asked Carole mainly, because she was a nurse, and she should know these things, right? Clearly, she had when she nodded.

"Yes, terrible disease. Why do you ask?"

"I found out my teacher had it today…"

"Oh, honey, that's horrible." Kurt nodded.

"She told me that she found out she had it after she went to the doctor to find out why she was having a lot of migraines…" he trailed off, and suddenly all three of them knew exactly why he was inverting in on himself that day. Listening to his teacher talk about something like that, was making his fears of the doctors more pronounced. If he were to go to the doctor, he could be diagnosed with MS and that's the last thing he'd want to know.

"Kurt, Multiple sclerosis, isn't the only reason for migraines you know? Sometimes you're just unlucky and have Chronic Migraines, which is a valid illness. It sucks that you have them, but just because you have them, doesn't mean that MS is the only cause."

"What exactly is Multiple sclerosis?" Finn asked, having never heard of it before.

"It's an autoimmune disease, where your body attacks itself." Kurt put it simply. Carole nodded before giving a slightly more advanced answer for Finn, and Burt's benefit.

"So, what made you and her get on this topic? She wasn't talking about this in class, was she?" Kurt shook his head.

"No, she's my French teacher, I told her that I would volunteer to tutor," Burt beamed at his son at this confession, but Kurt continued as if he hadn't seen it "but I told her there was a possibility I might have to stop if the migraines got too bad. I'd rather let her down and not tutor anyone, than waste someone's time tutoring them through a migraine and not give them my best effort. We talked a little about it then, and then I talked with her about it a little bit more at lunch because… I don't know. Something about the whole idea of an Invisible Illness is really strange to me. How can you be ill, when you can't see it?"

"Well Kurt, you know someone else with an Invisible Illness, you know." Kurt looked questioningly at his father, who just looked amused at him.

"What do you think arthritis is?" It's true, Kurt knew his father had arthritis for a long time. Working on cars so often, led to it when he was in his mid-30's. It's one of the reasons he had to take Chondroitin tablets every morning and night to try and rebuild the cartilege in his joints.

"That's an Invisible Illness?" Burt and Carole both nodded, clearly amused.

"Can you see it? Would you know I had it, if I didn't mention it?" Kurt thought about it, and while he might have noticed his father stretching his hands out quite a bit while working on cars, he probably wouldn't have known.

"Invisible Illnesses are a lot more common than people think, Kurt." Carole told him. "But at the same time, not every person with one, has one that's detrimental to their overall health, like MS. You should keep that in mind."

* * *

So he does. The next day Kurt got to class a few minutes early to see if he could get a word with Madame Monroe, and see if he could come back during lunch again that day, because he had more questions for her. She was only too happy to agree, after he quickly told her about his family's dinner conversation from the night before. She remarks that it must have been awkward for him to talk about with his family, only to realize his father suffered from an Invisible Illness as well.

"Oh it was awkward a little bit, but my family is great. We don't let awkwardness rule our lives, or else that's all that would ever be talked about."

"Good to know. So what other questions did you have?" She asked, as he sat in his seat, munching on an apple. He swallowed and asked the first thing that came to his mind.

"How did it you know…impact your life? Finding out you had the disease?"

She gave a small shrug. "It didn't really. MS isn't a disease that one day you don't have it, and one day you do. It's progressive and the symptoms slowly start to appear over time, not just all at once. Though one thing that did change, is that I have to take medicine to prevent further decay of the myelin every day."

"That doesn't sound so bad…" Kurt pursed his lips a bit. She laughed.

"Oh, only if you count giving yourself a shot every day as bad…" She saw the look on his face turn to one of horror. "Don't be alarmed. Really it's not that big of a deal. The needle is miniscule, and I rarely feel it. Usually the worst side effect of the injection is a temporary burning sensation, but that's about it." She shrugged it off, as it if were nothing. When in fact, it was a huge deal.

"I'd hate giving myself injections everyday. I can hardly stand getting a shot at the doctors, let alone having to do it by myself. Then again, if I ever had to, I'd probably have my step mom do it. She's a nurse."

"Nurses wouldn't be squeamish about it, that's for sure."

"Did it impact your life in any other way? Are there things you can't do anymore?" She nodded somberly.

"Yes actually, there is a lot of things I can't do anymore. I can't be as active as I once was before I developed the disease. I'm usually such a neat freak, cleaning everything in sight, but not quite Obsessive Compulsive about it." Kurt smiled, thinking back to the doe-eyed guidance counselor at McKinley High. "But with MS, my actions are limited. Some days I don't have the energy to even finish grading exams, which is why occasionally you'll get them back a week after you had them."

"Yea I've noticed that…" he trailed off. "Anything else that affects you negatively?"

"Well… with MS comes side effects….problems that can make living a day to day life very hard. For instance…some day… I could wake up blind, in one eye or both. It also destroys the brain, which can cause memory problems. It's one of the reasons why I made sure to become a teacher in a private school like Dalton, where the curriculum would be intense, and I would always be thinking on my feet in order to teach my students. Exercising my brain, is the best way to keep it from deteriorating at a faster rate. I also tend to do logic puzzles and brain teasers such as sudoku in my spare time in hopes of keeping my memory functioning properly

"What kind of memory problems?"

"I haven't had many yet. But simple recall of facts and figures, also of specific short term memory relapses can occur. Those tend to happen more when I'm tired or stressed. I've found myself asking a question 3 different times to the same class, and not remembering it until they've reminded me of it. It scares me, but no where near as much as what'll happen down the road in terms of what I'll be able to physically do.

"What do you mean?" asked Kurt, once again. He was genuinely curious about what was going on a cellular level in his teacher's body. It was fascinating that something that was so small, could have such a large impact on her life.

"Well…MS, much like all autoimmune diseases force you to pick and choose what you will do throughout the day, because you physically cannot do them. It takes a lot of energy to do very simple things, and sometimes it gets to the point, where I can't do anything else, even though it's only 5 in the afternoon." Kurt furrowed his eyebrows a tiny bit, unsure of what to make of this tidbit of information.

"Like, you didn't get enough sleep the night before, or?" She shook her head, before looking around her desk for something. Finally she opened one of the drawers and pulled out roughly 12-15 pens and pencils. She gestured for him to come over here and take them.

"Pull up a chair, let me show you exactly what I mean." Kurt grabs one of the chairs and pulls it up to the side of her desk, and takes a hold of the writing instruments. "Now, these represent the amount of things you can do in a day. A perfectly healthy person, has an endless supply of pencil and pens, that will replenish at a moments notice. You can always find more lying around and never really have to worry about running out. However a person with an autoimmune disease, such as Multiple sclerosis, has to be very careful, because we get a set amount at the start of each day, and each day is different. Some days you can have 15 pens, and some days you can have 20. But on the bad days, you can have up to 7 or 8. You never know precisely how many you have to use up each day, but you certainly know when you've run out of them. Understand so far?"

Nodding, he told her "I think so.."

"Good. Well then, what is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning…. Let's say this is a Monday morning?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Kurt spoke "I get out of bed, jump in the shower, and start on my moisturizing routine." With that she took 1 pencil out of his hands.

"That just took up one pencil, because when you have MS your body isn't ready first thing in the morning to just jump right out of bed the second you wake up. Because first off you didn't get a good nights sleep. You only got about 6 hours, and after a year or two of only getting 6 hours of sleep, you're carrying a massive sleep debt. You need to coax your body to get out of bed, not just pull it out. You said a shower next? Well just holding your arms up above your head to wash it, is incredibly draining. Granted you don't have as much hair as I do, which is why I didn't take away two pencils. After that you said a moisturizing routine. How long does that usually take you?"

"About 20 minutes." She looked a little shocked, but she shouldn't have, considering the subject.

"Well tack on another 15 at the very least, because after pulling yourself out of bed, having your joints relax under the hot steam of the shower, and having to actually move your arms enough to wash your hair, you're exhausted already, and you've only been awake for 20 minutes. What do you do then?" She prodded him to continue.

"I usually pick out what I'm going to wear the night before, so I put my clothes on."

"You don't dry off?"

"That was implied…"

"You can't imply anything with this. If you're going to dry off immediately, it takes energy. Everything takes energy and if it takes up enough energy it requires the loss of a pencil. Understand?" Kurt nodded. "So you dry off, and get dressed? What next?"

"I go downstairs and make myself breakfast."

"What type of breakfast?"

"Depends, sometimes its oatmeal, sometimes it's cold cereal. If I have enough time, I'll even make pancakes or something… or just eat what my stepmother makes for my dad and stepbrother."

"What did you have on Monday morning?" Kurt thought back…he remembered it clearly, because he woke up a half hour early, and had made a nice plate of waffles for him, and Finn, after Burt and Carole had left for the morning.

"Waffles, homemade." With that declaration, she took another pen from his hands.

"That's two down…see how much MS can affect you, before you even leave the house in the morning?" Kurt nodded. "So what do you do then?"

"Well…I get in my Navigator, and drive to school." She made a hiss, but didn't say anything else. "I drive the 20 minutes to school and then go to homeroom where I usually sit and talk with my boyfriend and our friends….. Why did you hiss?"

"Getting into a Navigator would cost me a pencil. However you, my dear, are younger, and taller than me, which would make it easier for you to get in and out of…. Anyway I'm going to assume, you carry your books in that shoulder bag you always have with you?" he nodded. "That's another 2 pens right there. Lugging around all those books with you, when you do not need to, is a waste of energy. It's much better to make a separate trip to your locker in-between classes, than to lug them around all day." Kurt was down to 7 pencils/pens left, and he hadn't even made it through the entire school day, he was a little worried.

"You normally go to lunch, and wait on line at the cafeteria?" Kurt shook his head.

"Absolutely not. Have you seen what they serve in there? I bring my lunch from home everyday." She smiled, happy that he was taking his health so seriously at least some of the time.

"Good to hear. So you sit down and eat, presumably with your boyfriend?" Kurt nodded his head. "So what do you do after school?"

"Warblers practice. Step-dancing around Blaine, while he sings lead on almost every song we do, minus the occasional duet." Kurt said with a slight bitterness to your voice. She noticed the bitterness and commented on it.

"Dislike him a bit, do we?" Kurt snorted at the question.

"Yes, one regularly dislikes the person he's dating simply because his boyfriend gets more solos than he does." he drawled out sarcastically, to which she chuckled.

"Hmm…he didn't tell me that…" she spoke softly, almost so softly that Kurt couldn't hear, he was about to ask what she meant when she continued "Well, either way. Dancing behind Blaine Anderson also involves giving up another pencil, so fork it over." Kurt handed her another pencil, down to 6 now.

"After that…Blaine and I'll usually either go to the Lima Bean for coffee, or I'll go home and start working on homework."

"Well let us pretend that you are going to work on homework. Working on that much homework, requires a lot of mental energy, not just physical, which require another pen." It seemed like Kurt was loosing pens and pencils incredibly quickly, something he was not fond of. "What next?"

"Either I'll cook dinner on my own, or I'll help Carole, my step-mom make it. On Monday we had chicken cacciatore. " She plucked two more pens out of his hand, leaving him with just 3. "Then I help my stepbrother clean up from dinner…" She plucked another pen out of his hand "…and continue working on more homework." She plucked yet another pencil out of his hand. He sat there with just one pencil left in his hand.

"You have one pencil left. It is 9pm. Your homework is finished, the dinner dishes are clean, and your lunch for the next day is packed. What do you do next?"

"My nighttime moisturizing routine." She took the final pencil out of his hand. The hand that had been full of pencils not 10 minutes before, was now empty. It was sad, it was pathetic. But it was real.

"And what do you do at the end of the day, after everything else is over and done with?" she asked.

"Probably listening to music, and dancing around my room, while on the phone with my friends."

"You cannot dance around your room. You can't even listen to music because you're feeling so exhausted that you just want to fall asleep. You try talking to your friends on the phone, but they are just so energetic, even that late at night, that you can't handle it. So you tell them good night, and go to bed at 10pm, knowing that even when you wake up at 6am the next morning, you will still have no more than 6 hours of sleep, when you really could use an 8 hour night for once."

"That's… horrible."

"That's life. That's my life." She told him, somberly. "Some days when you have extra pencils that you do not use…you can save them for the next day. Some days when you really need to, you can borrow against tomorrow. But you'll never know when tomorrow is a day you'll only have 8 to use, and borrowing against that chance is never wise." She looked at him, really looked at him in the eyes and told him "I don't let the fear of not knowing if I'll be able to do something when I get the chance, dictate my life. I live it the way I always wanted to, with a few minor adjustments. You shouldn't let the fear of the doctors, keep you from living your life the way you wanted to, without migraines, Kurt."

"Did you tell him about Spoon Theory, Aunt Jen?" Kurt whipped his head towards the door where he saw Blaine standing there, leaning up against the doorframe, looking as dapper as ever.

"Of course I did, though I used pens and pencils instead," she said as she stood up and went over to hug, what was apparently her nephew.

"Umm…" Kurt sputtered. "Did you just say Aunt… Jen?" The two laughed as Kurt stood up and walked over towards the two, staring at his boyfriend, like he had tentacles for arms.

"Technically we are not related." Blaine said, pulling Kurt into a side-hug that Kurt returned.

"But I've known his mother since before Blaine here was born. I held him as an itty bitty baby… and changed his dirt-"

"Whoa, can we not talk about that, please?" Blaine begged, color flooding his cheeks, as Kurt chuckled.

"Oh alright, I won't embarrass the ever loving hell out of you in front of your…boyfriend?" She asked, looking down at her 'nephew' with curiosity written all over her face, as if she were asking _'when'_

"Two months ago…" She smiled, but then frowned.

"Why didn't your mom tell me about it?" He shrugged.

"She didn't find out herself until about a month ago…" Jennifer Monroe just looked down at the two of them for a moment, before realization dawned on her all on its own.

"Your father…" They both nodded.

"I knew dad wasn't going to be thrilled about this… but things turned out okay when they finally did meet….if I do say so myself." Kurt snorted at the memory of besting Blaine's father at automotive knowledge.

"I sort of…. Showed his father that I am not exactly as I seem… when he tried to trick me on an automotive knowledge question. Silly man…trying to best me. I have been fixing cars since I was around 8 or 9 years old. My father owns a repair shop and I've worked there most of my life. So he wasn't going to be able to beat me." He smiled a genuine smile.

"Turns out Dad is impressed by someone who can outsmart him in car trivia, who knew?"

"I would have paid good money to see that." she let out a loud laugh, before turning to look at Kurt again. "Do you still work there?" Kurt shook his head.

"Not as often as I used to. I usually only go in when my father needs some help. With the headaches and migraines lately, I've had enough trouble getting through Warblers and homework, let alone adding on work to the mix. Though I still look over the books once a month, because my dad can't do it at all." He shook his head.

"Does homework aggravate the migraines?" Kurt nodded.

"They do, and it sucks." Blaine and his teacher shared a look, and Kurt suddenly had a bright light bulb go off over his head. "Wait Blaine. Is her story…the reason why you were so insistent that I go to the doctor?" Blaine nodded.

"I've heard Aunt Jen's story my entire life growing up, all about the migraines and what MS can do to a person's body if it's not treated. I just want to know that you're all right…" Blaine trailed off, before Kurt pulled him into a bear hug, which Blaine tightened.

"I just…I don't want to find out that there's anything wrong with me…" Kurt whispered, a lone tear escaping his left eye.

"It's probably nothing, Kurt. It's probably nothing a couple prescription Imitrex can't cure. But you won't get the relief from those migraines, until you get checked out by a doctor."

"You went to the doctor… and look what you had." She nodded sympathetically.

"That's true. That's very true that I was found to have MS when I went to the doctor, but that does not mean that you will. Not everyone who goes to the doctor finds out that they have a rare or serious illness. In fact, most of them don't. You can't let that dictate how you run your life though. Don't let the fear of doctors, prevent you from getting relief from the migraines that have been plaguing you. Don't run away from potential relief, due to the fear of potential illness."


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Blaine spend some quality time together, and Kurt learns something interesting about himself, and Blaine's mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and noneof them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.

The next Monday Kurt was busy working on a paper for British Lit, the working title being 'Why Macbeth was a douche bag.' He was in the middle of the library at Dalton when he was suddenly blinded, when someone put hands over his eyes. It momentarily scared Kurt until he heard the voice whisper in his ear "Guess who…?" Smiling Kurt reached his arm back to pull Blaine's face closer to the front of his, and blindly kissed him "Mmm…" Blaine said, "… chocolately." Kurt stifled a laugh, he was in the library after all. Blaine let go of Kurt's eyes and quickly grabbed an empty seat at the table and brought it around closer to Kurt.

"So what are you doing here, interrupting my writing time?" Kurt asked playfully. Blaine just smiled and leaned in.

"I was sort of hoping I could get you to take a break…" Blaine wiggled his eyebrows up and down which he knows Kurt can't ignore….can deny, but can't ignore. Kurt burst into giggles, but looks at his watch to see that it was 2:45. They had 45 minutes until Warbler practice, however Kurt had only been working on his paper for about 15 minutes.

"I really should get this paper done Blaine…." Kurt trails off…hesitance rearing its ugly head. Whether it's hesitance about completing the assignment, or sneaking off for a break, Blaine wasn't quite sure.

"When is it due?" Blaine asked, and that's when Kurt knew the answer to the unspoken dilemma.

"Monday…" Blaine smiled evilly.

"Perfect. Now pack up your stuff, let's go." When Kurt wavered just a tiny bit, Blaine gave him the puppy dog pout, that no man could resist. Kurt sighed to himself and put his paper and books away. When he finished, Blaine grabbed his hand and started dragging him through the halls.

"Where are we going?" Kurt asked in a huff. He was used to being dragged places by Blaine, but that didn't mean he didn't still like to know where he was going. Blaine came to an abrupt stop and turned to look at Kurt.

"Just trust me." Blaine leaned in and kissed Kurt chastely on his lips. It was the type of kiss Kurt loved. Don't get him wrong, he loved pretty much every type of kiss that he and Blaine ever shared, but it was the sweet ones that just emphasized romance, and not carnal desires that he adored so much.

"Fine…" Kurt was then continued to be dragged around Dalton until they came across the parking lot. "Okay, where are we going?" Kurt asked, confused, because to really go anywhere, they'd have to drive. To spend any real amount of time together that didn't include driving they'd have to go somewhere extremely close due to Warbler's practice.

"Well… I got Wes to cancel Warbler's practice today." Blaine grinned like a fool. Kurt wasn't as amused.

"Now why exactly would you go and do a foolish thing like that?" Blaine just kept grinning, as if he were hiding something. "Blaine you are not planning on dragging me to some mall where all the Warblers are going to come out of hiding and start singing are you? If you do, I'm going to have to break up with you." Kurt joked, but somewhat serious. Blaine just burst out laughing and shook his head.

"No, nothing like that. Though good to know for the future. Anything I should know that I can't do without risking our relationship?" he asked Kurt playfully, who just smacked him on the arm. Blaine pulled him over towards his Miada and said "C'mon, hop in."

"Where are we going, Blaine?"

"I thought you trusted me?" Blaine asked, mocking hurt feelings.

"That's when I thought we were staying on Dalton's campus." Kurt drawled. "Now that I know you're kidnapping me, I feel my trust was a little misplaced." Kurt told him, a smile shining through his displeasure. Blaine just pushed him up against the car and started to kiss his jaw, muttering all the way up to his ear.

"It's not kidnapping if you want to go, right?" Kurt giggled and wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and pulled him in for a kiss, a deeper kiss than they shared before. Kurt was the first one to introduce tongues into the kiss, but Blaine was the one who upped the rating when he subconsciously pressed his hips into Kurt's, making both of them moan.

"Mmm…Ah!" Kurt squealed. Blaine made a similar groan of appreciation but pulled back at Kurt's squawk.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked, but Kurt just shook his head.

"Nothing, but I'm not doing this," he gestured to the two of them, "and then getting one of these," he gestured towards both of their crotches "in public, Blaine." Blaine gave a small pout but nodded his head, and reaching over to pull the door to his car open.

"C'mon, get in. We're going to go somewhere special…" Blaine smiled.

Kurt wondered allowed, "Where?"

"My house."

* * *

As Kurt and Blaine pulled up to the Anderson house, Kurt felt a twinge in the back of his head, but he didn't think much of it because as soon as it appeared, it went away. Dalton was only about a 10 minute drive from the Anderson House and Kurt kept asking Blaine what they were going to be doing while there, but Blaine was keeping quiet on the subject.

"You'll find out when we get there…" Blaine reassured him. It was starting to grate on Kurt's nerves that he didn't know why they were going to the Anderson house. They never went to the Anderson house, for reasons unbeknownst to Kurt. Whenever the two spent any alone time together, it was always at the Hudmel house, or out in one of their cars after a date.

But as they walked into the house, Kurt could smell something delicious in the air. "Oh my, that smell is heavenly…" Kurt sang the praises of whomever was cooking something wonderful in the kitchen. It smelled like apples and cinnamon, and Kurt was all but drooling. But remembering the promise of finding out precisely why they were at Blaine's home, Kurt turned to Blaine, hands on his hips and a sass in his step that reminded Blaine of just how much he loved his boyfriend. "you promised you'd tell me why we're here when we got here….now tell me!"

Laughing Blaine just shook his head and started pulling him towards the kitchen. "Well you see….It seems today is a special day…" Blaine offered nonchalantly. "A very special day…" They walked into the kitchen and saw Julia Anderson pulling, what looks to be a freshly baked apple pie out of the oven.

"Hello boys…" She smiled, placing the pie on the counter. "I hear it's someone's two month anniversary today?" Kurt gasped. How could he forget his and Blaine's two month anniversary? Well probably because on their first month's anniversary they had dinner with the Anderson's and it wasn't the brightest memory Kurt's ever had. Not the worst, but most certainly not the brightest, even if he did best James Anderson in a game of car trivia.

"Oh my… how could I forget?" Kurt asked Blaine, a blush running up his face.

"You've been preoccupied lately. What with school, migraines, and me being my crazy self…" Blaine smiled at Kurt, as his mom just looked at the two of them amusingly.

"It's true," Julia chimed in. "Putting up with Blaine is a full time job, in and of itself." The two of them laughed at Blaine's misery as he just gave his mom _**the look**_.

"Anyway…" Blaine said pointedly at his mother, who just smirked. "I figured we could both use a break from school. Neither of us should be cooped up in the library writing papers on Macbeth, or the Korean War when we could be enjoying this afternoon." Kurt grinned.

"I like the way you think." He pulled his boyfriend into a hug and didn't let go as they let loose a tiny bit. "But why are we here? No offense, I love this house. But we never come here….why is that?" Kurt asked Blaine.

Julia answered. "That would be, because of James and me, Kurt." she spoke up, making Kurt whip around, letting go of Blaine who pouted at the loss of his boyfriend in his arms. "While we're perfectly happy with the two of you….James and I aren't comfortable with you two spending time here, alone." The word _**unchaperoned**_ is left hanging in the balance. "With James' crazy hours at the office, and my 12 hours shifts at the hospital, we're not usually home during any **normal** hours for you two to hang out here."

"Ahh.." Kurt said, annoyed that they didn't trust the two, but knowing what he and Blaine would probably get up to in a house like this alone for extended periods of time, it was probably a good call on the parenting front.

"I've taken the next week off. I do this about twice a year, give me a chance to rest." Kurt nodded.

"My step-mom does it sometimes too. She's a nurse…wait what hospital?" Kurt asked, curiously.

"Lima General." Kurt was genuinely surprised.

"That would be where she works. Carole Hummel?" Kurt offered, to which Julia just nodded.

"I've worked with her on a few patient cases. She's a wonderful woman." Kurt nods.

"That she is… I didn't know she was a nurse when I first introduced her to my father… but it turned out that her being a nurse…was actually an extreme help last year…"

"What makes you say that?" She asked.

"She helps me take care of my dad…. He had a heart attack last year and without her…he'd probably be sneaking foods he's not allowed to eat." Julia just chuckled.

"Yea, heart attack patients have a tendency to do that. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the dining staff complain about heart attack victims trying to order red meat from the menu when they're on a strict heart healthy diet." They both just rolled their eyes. But Blaine was starting to get antsy, and wanted to spend some time alone with Kurt, so he intervened on the little bonding fest his mom and Kurt seemed to be having.

"So Kurt, why don't you head on up to my room? I'll grab us some drinks and be up in a minute?" Kurt furrowed his eyebrows a little but nodded.

"Bye Mrs. Anderson, it was nice talking to you."

"Please, call me Julia." Kurt nodded, and walked in the general direction of Blaine's bedroom. Blaine on the other hand walked after him a few steps, to make sure he was actually going to his room, and then walked back over to his mother. "So you said he was having migraines?" She asked in a hushed whisper…

* * *

"Oh God…" Kurt moaned as Blaine found that sweet spot on his throat that turned him into a quivering mess every time. He knew it, Blaine knew it and Blaine took full advantage of that fact every time they made out. Because apparently that's what "enjoying the afternoon" entails when its one's two month anniversary. Kurt was laying down on Blaine's bed with Blaine laying on his side, switching between kissing Kurt on his lips, his cheek, his throat, his collarbone, or any other piece of exposed skin he could reach. Kurt had to stop him from ripping the collar on the Dalton polo even further down his chest than the buttons allowed.

"I love you Kurt…" Blaine murmured before resuming his attack on Kurt's neck. Kurt, unable to do anything more strenuous than tilt his head to the right so as to give Blaine a bit more room to work with. Without warning Blaine started to kiss and suck a little harder on Kurt's neck than Kurt had been expecting and with a heavy sigh, pushed Blaine off of him.

"Whoa…no hickeys Blaine." Kurt reminded him of the last time Blaine had given him a hickey. The second week they had been dating, and Burt had threatened Blaine with bodily harm if he did it again. "At least…no where anyone can see." Blaine looked into Kurt's eyes with an evil expression lurking deep within his own and lowered his mouth as far down Kurt's chest as he could and began sucking lightly, slowly increasing the suction until a nice small red bruise began to form.

Blaine grinned a happy grin and Kurt pulled him up so they could kiss again. This time Kurt was the one to move his tongue along Blaine's lips, requesting permission to enter. Blaine opened his mouth as if to say "Permission Granted." They continued in this fashion for the next few minutes, tongues battling for dominance until they both just broke away, trying to catch their breath. As they both laid there, lost in their own thoughts, presumably about the other, Kurt had to wonder something.

"Blaine, I'm never one to say no to making out, but did we really just do that with your mom downstairs?" Blaine beamed. The two never really did much of anything when others were in the house….which is why when Blaine spent the night at Kurt's it was such a foreign concept to them that morning when everyone was asleep.

"It's fine, Kurt. She and I…came to an understanding…" Kurt looked intrigued, and felt a stab of something deep within his head. Whether it was from pain or impatience on what Blaine was about to say…Kurt didn't know. "She knows that I would never allow anything bigger than this to happen with her downstairs. For one…you, my dear, would be mortified." Kurt nodded, the sharp pain hitting him again. "Two neither of us are ready for anything more…" Once again, Kurt nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. Kurt may not be the baby penguin he once was, but he's still not evolved into a sex shark.

"So we just get some alone time together, without anyone walking in on us?" Kurt asked. Blaine nodded. Kurt smirked. "Well then…let's not waste it." He said, pulling Blaine's head back down towards his so he could capture Blaine's lips. They persisted and every time Blaine's tongue swiped Kurt's it was like a jolt of electricity went surging throughout Kurt's body. But with every jolt of electricity, came a jolt of pain in a certain vicinity of Kurt's brain. He tried ignoring it, and just enjoying Blaine's attentions, but he couldn't.

After about 15 minutes of the intermittent sharp stabbing pains to the right side of his head, he had to take a break. "I'm sorry Blaine…" He hated doing this. He hated how his migraines were affecting his relationship with Blaine. It sucked and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Your head again?" Blaine asked, Kurt nodded, almost imperceptibly so as not to shake his head too much.

"I don't know why, but every few seconds or so, I'd get this sharp stabbing pain in the right side of my head." He said, rubbing his temples, but knowing it wouldn't do any good.

"Kurt, I know you don't want to hear this…" Blaine trailed off, and Kurt looked up at him, and just shook his head.

"You're right, Blaine. I don't want to hear it…" Kurt reminded him. Gosh how he hated this. Every time he got a migraine, someone was telling him to go to the doctor. What was a doctor going to do? What was a doctor who didn't know Kurt from Adam, going to do about migraines that he couldn't prove were actually there?

"You need to see a doctor!" Blaine cried out, but Kurt just rolled off the bed and stood up.

"No, I don't Blaine. I don't need to see a doctor."

"A doctor will be able to help you, Kurt! Help you stop the migraines, or at least lessen the severity of them!" Blaine countered.

"No doctor is going to be able to fix my head, so why bother trying? Doctors don't do anything but tell you there's nothing they can do. They said it for my mom. They said it when my dad was in his coma. Why would they tell me any different? It's the Hummel family tradition, doctors can't help you, so why bother trying?" Kurt grabbed his stuff that had been laying on the end of Blaine's bed and stalked out of his room.

Downstairs, Julia Anderson could hear everything, and when Kurt stormed into the living room, intent on making his way to the front door, he heard a voice. "Kurt, can you come here for a second?" Kurt tensed up and turned around, just looking at his boyfriend's mother.

"Yes?" He asked, trying not to put on his 'bitch' face, that he would have put on had it been anyone else in the world right now.

"Can we talk?" Sighing, Kurt walked over towards one of the chairs in the living room and sat down.

"Sure.."

"Blaine's told me about these migraines you've been having…" She held her hand up to stop the torrent of annoyance that was about to pour out of Kurt's mouth. "He was just worrying about you. But what he's told me, has me worrying…" She trailed off.

"Why?" Kurt asked.

"Kurt, migraines are serious things. No one, ever has them, for no reason." She told him matter of factly.

"Well apparently, I do." She shook her head.

"No, you don't. There's got to be a reason for them. Not seeing a doctor about them, is just making whatever is causing them, worse. Even if whatever is causing them, is just a trigger like inhaling second hand smoke, or drinking too much caffeine." She calmly tells him. "Not knowing what causes your migraines, just makes you more susceptible to them in the future."

"No offense, but how would you know?" Kurt asked. "Have you ever had chronic migraines? Ever had your head feel like it's being split open by an axe? Felt like someone had it in a vice grip?" Julia just shook her head.

"No Kurt…no. But I do know quite a bit about migraines. See Kurt… I'm a neurologist."


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Mercedes have a Lima Bean chat, and Blaine and his Aunt Jen have a little chat where Kurt finds out something he really didn't need to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and noneof them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.

So here they were, sitting in the middle of Blaine's living room, Kurt just staring at his boyfriend's mother with shock. He knew she worked in the medical field, but he had no clue that she was the type of doctor who specialized in the type of problems he was currently dealing with. Though it made sense if one thought about it, Blaine probably learned a bit about neurology growing up with a neurologist mother and that would explain Blaine's insistence on him going to see a doctor. Kurt didn't know that Julia had been a doctor…he thought she was a nurse or a receptionist or something like that at the hospital, but not a doctor. Not a neurologist. Not someone who was so conveniently available to tell him what was wrong with him and his brain. He gulped.

"Kurt, are you okay?" Julia asked him, and he just shook his head.

"I don't think I can have this conversation…" Kurt stuttered out and stood up, grabbing his things, and running out the front door before Julia could speak again. But as Kurt made his way outside, he realized that he and Blaine came in Blaine's car. Kurt's Navigator was still sitting in the Dalton parking lot. He couldn't go anywhere. He was stuck at Blaine's home, where his neurologist mother was trying to give him "the talk," at least the one that revolves around medical attention when someone else thinks you need it. His father had already given him the "other talk."

Even though he was outside, he felt trapped. Was this the reason Blaine had brought him back to his house? Using Blaine's car, instead of both of theirs? Did Blaine and his mother concoct this whole thing? Were they trying to force an intervention on him? Were they trying to get him to do something, he most definitely didn't want to do? He started walking away from the house, as quickly as he could, he knew he wouldn't be able to go too far, because his shoes were not made for walking long distances. He got about a block and a half away when he found a bench on the corner of a street. He sat down and just started to think things over.

He thought about all his migraines. All the pain, and all the suffering that the migraines brought. He couldn't just pretend that they would go away. He wished that they would, but they kept coming. Even now, he could feel one coming, and being outside in the middle of the open air, with the sun bearing down on him was not a good idea. He thought back to his father's words: They could be something serious. He thought back to Blaine's behavior the day of, and after the argument about him going to see a doctor. Blaine hadn't abandoned Kurt, but he wasn't the same Blaine that Kurt knew. He was distant and slightly cold. It was only after Kurt's discussion with Madame Monroe yesterday that they were able to patch things up a tiny bit. "Oh gosh, was it only yesterday?" Kurt said aloud to himself. It was getting to be too much. All of his friends and family were trying to get him to do something he wasn't comfortable with doing.

He didn't want to know if something was seriously wrong with his head. He didn't want to find out that he was going to die and have doctors not being able to cure it. He didn't want his father to watch him die over a period of time that could be spent being happy about what bright futures him and Finn could have, instead of anticipating the worst. Because he knew his father. If they found out that Kurt had something that was fatal, Burt would fall apart. Kurt was Burt's world, and he didn't want his father to have to deal with the pain of a sick son, on top of his already ailing heart. The stress just might kill them both, and where would that leave Carole, and Finn, and Blaine? Would they be able to survive if something happened to Kurt and Burt? Kurt didn't know if they'd be able to, and he definitely didn't want to risk anyone finding out the answer.

Bzzzzz

Kurt's phone was buzzing. He never turned it off vibrate after he left the library with Blaine earlier. It only buzzed once, so Kurt assumed it must have been a text message, but he didn't want to see who it was from. It was likely from Julia and Blaine via Blaine's phone trying to get him to go back to their house. He knew he'd have to go back to their house at some point. Either that or call Finn or Burt to come pick him up. He wasn't exactly too fond of that idea, so he resolved to sit on the bench for a while. It was still light out, and Kurt definitely wasn't ready to do anything else but sit there.

Bzzzzz

His phone buzzed again. A single buzz, indicating that he got another text message. Probably from Blaine again. Sighing, Kurt took out his phone, and read the first message. Surprisingly, it wasn't from Blaine, or Julia. But from Mercedes.

 _Hey boo, wanna meet for coffee?_

Kurt sighed. He would love to meet her for coffee, but he wasn't quite sure how to get there. He decided to call her up and explain some of the situation to her, but first to read the 2nd message. This time, it was from Blaine.

 _Babe, please come back. We need to talk this out…please?_

Kurt typed out a quick reply to Blaine. _No. I'm not ready to talk this out. I'll see you tomorrow at school._ He then quickly flew through his contact and found Mercedes number so he could call her up.

"Hey Kurt!"

"Hi Mercedes, listen, I'd love to get coffee but…"

"You're spending the day with Blaine, I get it."

"No!" Kurt practically screamed into the phone. "No, I'm actually not with Blaine…though I was…"

"What do you mean, white boy?" Mercedes joked.

"Do you think you can come get me?" Kurt asked her, in the quiet, scared voice that Mercedes hadn't heard come out of Kurt's mouth since he declared he was transferring to Dalton.

"What happened, Kurt? Did Blaine do something?" Kurt swallowed.

"Yes, and no. I don't want to talk about it on the phone, 'Cedes. Can you just come get me?"

"Sure, where are you?" He gave her his location and he could hear her grab her keys and jump in her car. "I should be there in about 15 minutes."

"Thanks 'Cedes…" They hung up. Kurt wiped away a lone tear that had fallen from his eyes. He didn't want to deal with any of this, he just wanted to enjoy coffee with Mercedes, like they used to do.

* * *

He should have known that he wasn't going to get his wish. After she dropped him off at Dalton so he could get his car, they both pulled into the Lima Bean parking lot at the same time. By the time the two of them were in line, Mercedes was itching to know precisely what had happened between him and Blaine. "So you know how I've been having those migraines, lately?" Kurt asked her, having kept her up to date on his life ever since leaving Dalton. She nodded. "Well everyone, I mean everyone who I see on a daily basis, is trying to talk me into going to see a doctor about them, when I don't want to."

"Why don't you want to go to the doctors?" she asked him, as she stirred some sugar into her coffee.

"I don't like them, 'Cedes. I never have. All they do is poke you, prod you, and tell you that they can't do anything about what you have that ails you." Mercedes just looked at her best friend and stared.

"What doctors have you been seeing, boy?" She asked him, as if he were crazy. "Doctors do a lot of things for you. They don't just tell you that they can't do something for you." She pointed out. "Just look at my dad. He's a dentist. He helps people all the time, cavities, root canals, gum disease… he doesn't just tell them that there's nothing he can do…"

"But that's different. He's just a dentist." She gave him the 'bitch glare.'

"What do you mean 'just' a dentist? Meaning that my dad isn't a doctor?" Kurt shook his head.

"No. Just that…dentists pretty much know what they're doing. They follow the same basic pattern of things every time they see patients. X-rays, exam, Novocain, drill. But other types of doctors…are different."

"All doctors have the same general manual they follow until they get to a point where it doesn't help anymore, Kurt. Why do you think they always listen to your heart and lungs, check your blood pressure, eyes and ears every time you go into the doctor, no matter if it's for a checkup or for something else? Everything is connected, and it's not like they're all just going to say that there's nothing available for you to take to help with the migraines." Kurt waffled his head back and forth and then shrugged.

"I guess, but I still don't like them. They couldn't do anything for my mom, and they couldn't do anything for my dad when he was in the coma. What makes you think they can help me?"

"Kurt, cancer and heart attacks are two completely different things, and they are so far from migraines, that the fact you're comparing them is laughable." She glared at him. "Cancer is incurable, Kurt. It's a sad and lonely truth, but it is the truth. There is no known cure for cancer, but there are treatments. Your mother just wasn't caught earlier enough. As for your father, the doctors didhelp him, remember? He had surgery after the heart attack? What do you think that was? If they hadn't, he wouldn't have survived!" She scolded him. "You have doctors to thank for your father being alive, Kurt. Not to blame." Kurt nodded, he knew this. But he still was scared.

"What if something is seriously wrong with me, 'Cedes?" Kurt whispered, as he felt the familiar feeling rise up in his face, that told him he was ready to bawl the moment he was triggered into it. "What if I have…" he gulped. "…cancer?" His chin started to quiver and tears started to pool up in his eyes. "What if I have a brain tumor…and that's what is causing these migraines?" His shoulders began to quake as his head bent down to look at the table, in hopes of preventing anyone from seeing him cry.

Mercedes got out of her seat and quickly walked over to his side and pulled him into her arms. "Hey, everything is going to be okay." She whispered into his ear. "Shhh…it's going to be alright." He threw his arms around her, and grasped her tightly. "C'mon, let's go out to my car." Kurt nodded, and quickly grabbed his stuff and walked right out of the coffee shop without another thought. Mercedes grabbed her stuff along with both of their coffees and walked out after him. She found him sitting in his car, sobbing. She opened the passenger side door to his car. "Kurt, I can't promise you that what is causing these migraines isn't cancer, but what I can promise you, is that if it is, you'll have a better chance of surviving it, if you get treatment quicker. Prolonging it will only make it worse in the long run."

"I know, 'Cedes. I really do… I'm just scared."

"I know you are, Kurt. But you know we'll all be there for you, whatever the outcome, right?" Kurt nodded. "Who knows, maybe it's really nothing, and can be treated with a simple pill to make them go away."

"That would be great…" Kurt smiled, wiping his eyes and nose with his hand.

"Now, exactly what happened with Blaine? Because last night, you two were much better than you had been." Mercedes reminded of their conversation from the night before.

"He brought me to his house after school. It's our 2 month-aversary."

"Aww…"

"But when we got there…I met his mother again…Julia. Who after a little while, I find out is a neurologist." Mercedes' mouth dropped.

"You mean…" Kurt nodded.

"She treats people like me…who have problems with their brains…"

"What'd she say?"

"She kept telling me everything that everyone else was saying. That I need to go see a doctor, that something serious could be wrong…" Mercedes nodded. "But when she told me she was a neurologist, I just bolted."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "I stood up, and left the living room, and left the house. Started walking until I found the bench that you picked me up at. I was scared, 'Cedes. I couldn't deal with that right then."

"Kurt, you need to face it sometime. I know it's not the brightest prospect in the world, and that you'd rather spend a thousand dollars at Tiffany's instead, but you really ought to get it done."

"I don't think I can do it alone though…" Kurt confessed.

He's never gone to the doctors alone. Even last year when he needed a physical for football and cheerleading, he needed his father to go with him. He was afraid of doctors, and avoided going to them at all costs.

"You don't have to go alone, Kurt. You know your dad would go with you if you asked him to. So would Carole, so would Finn. Blaine and I would go as well! We'll make it a group outing, we can have t-shirts made." Kurt smiled. "You just need to have courage, Kurt." Kurt blanched, and just as they had faded earlier, the water works began again. "Honey, what's wrong?"

"Blaine… He texted me after you did, wants to talk it out." He sniffed.

"And, what did you say?"

"I wasn't ready to talk it out… God Mercedes, how am I going to make this up to him?" She shrugged.

"Not my area of expertise, but…you could try talking to him? Explain to him, what you told me just now Kurt." She offered. "He'll understand that you're scared. I'm sure he is too."

"That's true…with a neurologist for a mom, and an aunt with MS, he's probably just as scared as I am…" Kurt wiped the last bits of tears away from his eyes.

"Kurt, trust me. Just talk to him." He nodded.

"I will. Thanks for being there for me today Cedes." he smiled, and she gave him one in return.

"I'll always be here for you. You never have to question that."

* * *

The next day Kurt was worried when he stepped through the front doors of Dalton Academy. He went straight towards Blaine's homeroom, intent on finding the boy and talking a little of this out prior to school starting for the day. But when he got to the room, Blaine wasn't there. Blaine always got to school before him. It wasn't like him to be late. Crushed, Kurt walked away, and started heading towards his homeroom, which was 3 hallways away. But as he was walking, he heard a familiar voice…two familiar voices actually.

"…you can't force him to do something he doesn't want to do." It was Madame Monroe's voice.

"Why not? Isn't the whole growing up thing, doing things you don't want to do, because they're things you have to do? Why can't I, or his parents force him to go see a doctor about them?" This time, it was Blaine's.

"Blaine, remember a few years ago, when you and Jonathan went to the Sadie Hawkin's dance?"

"Of course I do, what does that have anything to do with-"

"Just listen, will ya?" Madame cut him off. "That night ended with two bruised ribs, and a concussion, but you didn't want to go to the hospital. You were scared that people were going to see that you were beaten up if you went. So you played it off and pretended nothing was wrong, until your mom couldn't wake you up the next day." Kurt gasped, he didn't know that.

"I know…" Blaine sighed.

"Blaine, I'm not bringing this up, just to remind you of a terrible time, but you need to remember that this is Kurt we're talking about. From what you've told me, and from what I've been able to gather, he's a very strong-willed individual, moreso than you." She chuckled. "He needs to make this decision on his own, he can't be forced into it. Yes, he might be talked into it, but you cannot physically tie him up, throw him over your shoulder and bring him to the doctor. For one, that would destroy any and all trust you two have built."

"So what do I do, Aunt Jen? He won't listen to reason! He won't listen to his parents, he won't listen to me, he won't even listen to mom! I thought since mom was able to convince you to go to the doctor, that she'd be able to convince him…"

'So it was a set up….' Kurt thought to himself…'Just like I thought it was…'

"Just be there for him, remind him that there's a world without pain out there that he could be enjoying. Trust me, he wants to be pain free, just as much as you want him to be. He's just scared to take that step." Kurt could hear Blaine sigh, as well as the shuffling of feet indicating that Blaine was moving around. Kurt could hear the feet getting closer to the door, so he tried to quickly walk backwards, to make it like he hadn't just been eavesdropping on that conversation when Blaine left the French room.

A few seconds later, Blaine turned the corner, and came face to face with Kurt. Kurt offered him a weak smile, one which Blaine returned. "Hey…" Kurt said, trying not to let the nervousness show in his voice.

"Hey…" Blaine returned, not knowing what to say either. "Did you hear…any…of that…?" He pointed back towards the French classroom with his thumb, and Kurt hesitated, not wanting to tell the truth, but also not wanting to lie to his boyfriend. Weakly, he nodded. "Great…" Blaine sighed.

"Can we talk?" Kurt asked, hope ever present in his voice. Blaine nodded.

"C'mon, let's go to the cafeteria and get some coffee. It's a half hour until class starts…" Kurt nodded, but didn't think it would necessarily be enough time for the two of them to work out the problems from yesterday.


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt experiences his worst migraine to date, and makes a crucial decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and noneof them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.
> 
> Author's note #2: I wrote this chapter three different times. The first draft sucked. The second draft was better. The third draft was only written because I developed a partial/non debilitating migraine-headache tonight. So naturally, I had to pass it on to Kurt. Hope you all enjoy.

As the two boys got to the cafeteria they purchased some coffee from the cafeteria staff and sat down at a table, far enough away from any other students that they wouldn't be overheard. Because this was definitely a conversation that wasn't to be shared. They both sat there staring at each other for a few minutes, unsure of who should start. Finally, Kurt took a deep breath. "So I have to ask, did you bring me to your house yesterday, with the intent to have your mother sit me down for a migraine-vention?"

Blaine hesitated slightly, but spoke calmly. "Yes and no…." Blaine closed his eyes for a moment. "I knew mom was going to be home, and I did bring you over with the intention that if you brought it up, she'd be there to talk to you about it, but I didn't ask her to bring it up out of the blue with you. Though I don't know if it was completely out of the blue…she told me later she heard our fight…" Blaine stared at the table they were sitting at. Kurt nodded.

"Why couldn't you just leave it? I was fine with the way I was handling the migraines." Blaine swallowed and looked up into Kurt's eyes.

"Because you weren't handling them, not really. You were letting them consume your life." Blaine told him, his voice pained with grief. "I hate seeing you like that."

"But it's up to me, to decide how to handle them, Blaine. You can't try to control me, directly or indirectly. Trying to force your mother into giving me an intervention, isn't the way to get what you want…or what you think I need." Kurt pointed out to him. Blaine nodded, he knew that instinctively but he also knew that watching Kurt be in such pain has been one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.

"But don't you want to be healthy? Don't you want to live your life without pain? To live without fear of migraines and other headaches?" Blaine asked, practically begging Kurt to agree with him.

Kurt nodded. "I do, but going to the doctor doesn't necessarily mean that'll make things better. It could make things worse…"

"How? How can going to a doctor, and getting medication to make the migraines go away, possibly make things worse?" Blaine asked, baffled at his boyfriend's naivety.

"What if it's something worse than just simple migraines, Blaine? What if it's something that could kill me, or even worse, debilitate me for the rest of my life?" Kurt told him. "I've looked up what can cause migraines… aside from MS like your Aunt Jen, there's a whole host of other things that can cause them."

"And if you have one of them, it's better to be treated, than to let it go untreated." Blaine reasoned with his boyfriend, to no avail.

"But I don't want to know. I don't want to know if something is seriously wrong with me that I'll end up…." Kurt's voice choked for a second, but got the rest of what he wanted to say out. "…dying or something. I don't want to know if I have cancer…" Kurt stared at his coffee, and Blaine sighed.

"Kurt, I know it's scary, but not knowing is worse than knowing. They say ignorance is bliss, but it really isn't. Sure not knowing will make you happy for a while, until something happens and you end up at the hospital, finding out it's too late to do anything about it!" Blaine harshly told him. "Do you really want to do that to everyone who cares about you? Do you want your father to find out that his son is dying and if they had only caught it sooner, he might have been saved?" Blaine looked distraught.

"Of course I don't want that!"

"Because that can happen, Kurt! You know it can happen." Blaine gave him a pointed look, which indicated that Kurt knew he was talking about his mother. "Do you really want your father to go through that again? You're the last thing he has left of your mother, don't do this to him, and make the same mistake that happened to her." Kurt looked down at the table.

"I'm scared Blaine…" Blaine sighed softly to himself, and quickly grabbed both of Kurt's hands. Kurt momentarily looked up until he caught Blaine's gaze and they just stared into each other's eyes while Blaine began to speak again.

"I know you're scared, but finding out what is wrong, is the best way to make you less scared. You don't have to go through it alone, Kurt. Your father will be there for you. I'll be there for you. Everyone will be there for you, you don't have to do it alone."

 _BRRRRRIIIINGGGGG_

That was the signal that homeroom was going to start in 5 minutes and that they had to get going before they were late. They both stood up and Blaine pulled Kurt into a hug. "You don't have to do it alone." He whispered into his ear before they started walking out.

* * *

Later that day, during French class with Madame Monroe, the class was set to work reading aloud a section from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, and Kurt was drifting in and out of paying attention. He had read the entire book, in English and French before, for pleasure not required, and could recite the plot in his sleep, so he wasn't too worried about the class. But as he was drifting in and out, he noticed that his sight started to shift a tiny bit. It never did it before. It was almost as if the walls in the classroom were moving closer to him, and then moving back to their normal spots without him realizing it. He was a little concerned, but since he didn't know what was doing it, he didn't bother paying much attention to it, and began actually paying attention to the section of the story they were supposed to be reading.

But paying attention was a little harder than he thought it would be, when he felt a sharp stab of pain in the back of his head that made him inhale a sharp breath and rub the spot on his head which didn't help at all. It made a few people look at him funny, including Madame Monroe. "Monsieur Hummel, ça va bien?" (Mr. Hummel, are you okay?") After a couple deep breaths Kurt nodded.

"Oui Madame." (Yes M'am)

"Allez-ici s'il vous plait." (Come here please) Kurt stood up and walked up towards the front of the classroom. Once he got there, she took him into the corner of the room. "Is everything alright?" She asked, her conversation with Blaine fresh in her mind.

Kurt shrugged. "Right now? Yea. My head is just hurting a little bit, no big deal." She gave him a look that he couldn't quite place.

"Your head hurting isn't 'no big deal' Kurt, you should know this by now. Do you think it's going to turn into a migraine?" Kurt shrugged.

"I honestly don't know." She nodded.

"Go back and sit down. If it gets worse, remember you can always go to the nurse, you know?" Kurt nodded.

"Thanks Madame." So Kurt sat back down and went back to paying attention to the other students who were reading. Everything was going fine, until Kurt started to zone out a little too quickly and was pulled back into reality by Jeff, a fellow Warbler sitting behind him, who poked him in the shoulder trying to bring him back to reality. Kurt was shaken out of his stupor a little too quickly, which wasn't a great thing for someone who was already experiencing optical illusions with the walls. "Don't do that…" Kurt growled at Jeff.

"Your turn to read is coming up…" Jeff whispered in his ear, which Kurt sighed and seemed relieved for though. After the kid in front of him finished reading, Kurt began. They were at the point in the story where Fantine was being fired from her job at he factory after everyone finds out she has an illegitimate child. He begins to read, and every few minutes, stops and rubs the side of his head. The pain that was once localized in the back, was slowly spreading forward. No one really paid much attention to that, since everyone was busy trying to read along, and pay attention to the entire story. No one else knew the story quite as well as Kurt did. But after a few more times Madame Monroe seemed to take pity on him and pushed the reading off to Jeff, so it wouldn't add to Kurt's problems.

But with Jeff speaking loudly, right in back of Kurt's head, it definitely added to the problems. Jeff's voice seemed to amplify the pain Kurt was already experiencing by about 10 times. It was not a pretty sight. Kurt put his head down and covered his ears, trying to drown out some of the noise that was coming from right behind him. But it was no use. The pain was just getting worse. It wasn't stopping. The volume of Jeff's voice, mixed with the optical illusions he was currently experiencing with the walls, and the sharp stabbing pain in the right side of his head, he knew he couldn't stay in this class. He swiftly raised his hand. "Madame Monroe?" interrupting Jeff "Est-ce je peux aller à l'infirmière? ("Madame Monroe? May I go to the nurse?")

"Oui Monsieur Hummel." She said immediately, knowing how bad migraines can get, and how quickly they can evolve. Kurt began packing his things up and began to stand up, but lost balance for a moment and fell back into his chair. "Are you alright?" Madame Monroe asked her prized pupil, completely throwing her "French only" rule out the window as she rushed over towards his desk. Kurt just shook his head, which made the dizziness he was currently feeling even worse.

"No…I don't feel well…at all."

"You look pale.." Jeff pointed out, and Kurt just glared at him.

"Do you need someone to help you to the nurse?" Kurt hesitated, but nodded. "Jeff, can you help him? Then return immediately?"

"Sure Madame." Jeff stood up and helped Kurt to his feet again, this time steadying his friend and fellow Warbler so Kurt could walk without falling over. They walked out of the room and began walking the 2 hallways it would take to get to the nurse's office. "Dude, are you alright? What's wrong?" Kurt groaned.

"Remember a couple weeks ago when Wes cancelled practice because I had a migraine and all the noise was killing me?" Jeff nodded. "I'm having another one, though this time it was your voice that did me in…." Jeff looked offended, but saw the pain etched onto Kurt's face, and shrugged it off.

"Oh man, that must suck…" Jeff said a little too loud, and Kurt winced.

"They suck…this is the 6th…no 7th one I've had this month." Jeff's eyes bugged out of his head.

"Seriously? Seven of them within a month?" Kurt nodded.

"Actually 7 of them in 26 days. Yes I know it sucks, you don't have to exclaim it so loud…"

"Sorry dude…" They reached the nurses office and Jeff sat Kurt down on one of the chairs in the corner of the room. The nurse entered in from the back room and saw the two boys.

"What brings you two here?" Kurt was leaning over with his head in his hands, so Jeff spoke.

"Kurt here has a migraine, and…"

"…was wondering if I could lay down for a while…see if I can sleep it off for the rest of the class period." It was only 7:25, and class ended at 8:30, so he had an hour to try and make it go away, hopefully he could make it go away and he wouldn't have to deal with missing any other classes.

"Does your teacher know you intended to sleep?" She asked, and Kurt nodded.

"She knows my history with migraines…" Kurt admitted. "She also knows that the only way I've found to get rid of them is to sleep them off." The nurse looked hesitant, but gave in.

"Okay Jeff, you can go back to class. Kurt, let's get you into one of the cots." Kurt smiled appreciatively at the matronly woman. Kurt laid down in one of the rooms off of the nurse's office with a cot and a blanket. He must have been more tired than he thought, because the moment his head hit the pillow, he was out.

* * *

He was woken up an hour later by the nurse, to see how he was doing, to which he was very annoyed about, because being woken up while trying to sleep off a migraine, is one of the worst things that can happen to a person, no matter how gently they're woken up. Kurt groaned when she asked him "How are you feeling?"

"Like my head was tied to a railroad 5 minutes after a train came to town…" Kurt muttered.

"You're not going to be able to go to any of your other classes are you?" Kurt shook his head.

"Doubtful. The small amount of light coming in from the other room is making me want to claw my eyes out as it is…" She nodded.

"Why don't I call your father? Have him come pick you up? You'll probably feel better sleeping this off in your own bed." Breathing a sigh of relief, Kurt nodded, choking back a sob.

"Thank you."

Forty-five minutes later Burt was pulling into the Dalton parking lot and rushing in the front doors. After grabbing a visitor's pass and making his way to the nurse's office, he spoke to the nurse for a few moments before heading into the room his son was currently lying down in. Kurt hadn't been able to get back to sleep since the nurse woke him up earlier, but was desperately trying to. "Hey son, how's it going?" Burt asked, sitting on the edge of the cot. Kurt sat up and buried his head into his father's shirt.

"Daddy, it hurts. It really hurts." Burt wrapped his arms around Kurt's back and held him close.

"Shhh, I know it does buddy, I know it does." Kurt began to sob into his father's chest, which was the worst thing he could do right now, because it would only make it worse, but Kurt couldn't care about the repercussions of his actions, he couldn't prevent the tears or the sobs from coming out. Occasionally you needed to cry. This was one of those times. "C'mon, let's get you home." Kurt nodded, and pulled out his sunglasses from his bag that he always carried with him, because he knew he was going to need them as he left the little cot-room.

After they left the nurse's office, they were about one hallway away from the entrance, when the two of them saw Blaine walking out of the main office. He ran up to them. "Hey, what's going on?" He asked, as he looked at Kurt, sunglasses on, and tearstained cheeks. For the first time since Burt arrived at the school, Kurt detached himself from his father's torso and latched onto Blaine's.

"He's got another migraine…" Burt whispered. "I'm taking him home." Blaine nodded, wrapping his arms around Kurt and hugging him as tightly as he could without hurting his boyfriend more.

"It hurts, it hurts so fucking much…" Kurt whimpered into Blaine's neck. Blaine looked lost as to what to do. He had seen Kurt in pain before, but never this bad. He never saw Kurt crying because of the migraines, he had never seen Kurt be this clingy to anyone before. He did the only thing he could think of: kissed Kurt's temple and whispered into his ears.

"It's gonna be okay…It's gonna be okay." It was then that you could hear the sobs escape from Kurt's mouth, the hitched breath that came along with it, and the sniffles that Kurt couldn't help every time he tried to breath through his nose.

"C'mon Kurt, let's go home." Burt tried to pry Kurt off of Blaine, because Blaine wasn't getting the rest of the day off. In fact, Blaine was expected back in class any minute.

"Go on, Kurt. Go home. Go to sleep. Get something to eat and go sleep this off. I have to go back to class." He tried extracting himself from Kurt's grasp. "You'll feel better once you get home…" Kurt sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"No I'm not…" the hysteria seeping into his voice. "I'm not going to feel better, because these are just going to keep coming." Kurt finally admitted. "They're never going to stop. They're just going to keep coming, and coming. They're never going to stop, are they?" Burt and Blaine could only look at each other. They both knew what the other was thinking, but neither were brave enough to vocalize it, not with Kurt in the condition he was currently in. They both knew that the only way to control the migraines was for him to go to the doctor, but Kurt was having none of that.

"Go home, Kurt. I promise you will feel better sometime soon. You just need to get some rest." Blaine offered, carefully avoiding the question.

"I love you Blaine." Kurt tossed himself at his boyfriend once again, and Blaine quickly caught him and whispered soothing words into his ear.

"I love you too Kurt. Everything will be okay, trust me." Blaine rubbed Kurt's back as they hugged, which seemed to calm Kurt down a little bit.

"Let's go Kurt," Burt said a little more forcefully this time. Kurt swallowed the lump that had been building in his throat while he was crying into his boyfriend and father's shirts.

"Call me later Blaine?" But Blaine shook his head.

"You call me when you're feeling better, or I'll call you in the morning. I don't want to call and accidentally wake you up. I don't want to make it worse on you." Kurt smiled and nodded. He had such a thoughtful boyfriend.

With that, the two Hummels left the Dalton grounds. Kurt laying in the back of Burt's car, sunglasses on with his Dalton blazer slung over his head to block out any and all incoming sun through the tinted windows. Burt drove home in silence, not saying a word about the emotional breakdown that his son experienced in the middle of the school's hallway, and not about how his son refused to do something about the migraines that caused the breakdown. He knew it was the last thing his son needed right now.

When they got to the house, Kurt quickly headed for his room. Luckily he had learned to keep the blinds closed throughout the day, in case things like this happened and he had to take a nap the moment he got home from school because, this wasn't the first time.

Kurt quickly changed out of his Dalton uniform, and into comfortable pajamas because, he knew that he wasn't going anywhere else today. He was housebound for the next 18 hours at the very minimum. He used to say that "Every moment of your life, is an opportunity for fashion." However with age comes wisdom. And with wisdom comes the knowledge that the saying should be changed to "Every moment without exploding pain, is an opportunity for fashion."

Kurt loved fashion, he really did. It was one of the most important things in his life. But even he could admit that there are situations in life that are more important than wearing the latest designs. Being comfortable while combating the worst migraine of one's life? Definitely one of those situations. Because if Kurt had to describe what he was feeling, it would definitely be the worst thing he'd ever felt. Because he'd dealt with migraines before. They always hurt like hell, but this one takes the cake. It was so strong, and so immense in the amount of his head that it was hitting, that he couldn't stand to….well put it simply, he couldn't stand long enough to do anything besides change his clothes. So he quickly laid down on his bed and like earlier, the moment his head hit the pillow, he was out.

He woke up about 5 hours later, his head still pounding he was close to tears again. _'This isn't going to go away on its own…'_ Kurt realized to himself. _'They're only going to get worse.'_ The little devil on his shoulder told him. Kurt knew this. They were getting progressively worse throughout the past month, and he couldn't catch a break from them. It was awful, and all Kurt wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep it off, but he had been doing that for the past 5 hours, and it did absolutely nothing for him. He curled back up and sighed. He knew he was never going to be able to sleep tonight, if he kept sleeping. He knew it, but on some level, he really didn't give a shit. But that's when he heard his stomach growl. He groaned.

He hadn't had anything to eat since 6:30 this morning, and it was now roughly 3:30 in the afternoon. That was a long time to go without food, even for Kurt who ate like a bird usually. He got up and looked around in the dark for his sunglasses so he could put them on and go downstairs. When he got downstairs, he saw Burt sitting in the middle of the living room watching TV. Burt muted the channel and asked his son how he was feeling.

"I feel like crap. I'm dizzy, I'm nauseous, I have a headache the size of Texas. I'm weak and I don't feel like doing anything but lying down and sleeping. If I didn't know it was impossible, I'd say I was pregnant." Burt snorted.

"Why don't you have some of the leftover spaghetti we had last night?" He offered, Kurt nodded.

"That's what I was planning on having. Then I'm going back to sleep."

So that's what Kurt did. He ate, and he went back to sleep. He missed out on dinner with the entire family once again because of his head. He didn't wake up until around 9pm and Kurt sleepily walked downstairs, still looking as horrible as ever. Carole stood up and walked over towards him, pulling him into a hug.

"How's the head, dear?"

"Great!" Kurt answered sarcastically. "I'm thinking about staring up into the sun for 20 minutes, just because. Oh wait…it's nighttime." Carole rolled her eyes.

"Not any better, huh?" Kurt shook his head.

"No, it's worse." She pushed him towards the kitchen, shutting the light off in there as she did so. She quickly went into the fridge to get out some of the grilled chicken that they ate for dinner that night.

"You hungry?" Kurt nodded.

"A little yea." Kurt laid his head on the table, letting the coolness of the marble table send shivers down his spine, but it seemed to relax his head a little bit. "I don't know why, but it is worse than it was earlier. Isn't sleep supposed to make it better? That's what it's always done for them. But like…sleeping is only making it worse."

"I don't know what to tell you hon." Carole said sympathetically. "All I can say is that I think you should see a doctor, but I know you don't want to do that."

Kurt said nothing, just looked at the floor. After his and Mercedes' conversation from the day before, and his and Blaine's conversation earlier, he had been slowly getting to the point where he'd be able to comfortably see a doctor… provided someone was with him at the time. But this last migraine was the clincher. It was the straw the broke the camel's back. Because there were a lot of things he could deal with on a semi-daily basis, but a migraine as strong as this was not one of them. He couldn't' deal with the thought of leaving school every other day because of a migraine. He couldn't deal with the thought of sleeping every day away because he couldn't go out into the sun without wanting to dive under a rock. He just couldn't deal with any of it.

"Carole…" Kurt swallowed the lump that was rising in his throat.

"Yes dear?"

"I think I'm ready to see a doctor now…" Kurt whispered, as tears started to pool in his eyes. Carole knew that Kurt seeing a doctor wasn't the end to Kurt's problems, it was only the beginning. But hopefully the beginning to finding a treatment that will help him overcome them. Because that's all she or anyone else could ask for right now.


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does the majority of Dalton's students think about Kurt and his "migraine-headache"?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and noneof them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.

_April 27th_

 _So, its me again. I know I haven't written in you in a while, but there's been a lot of things going on over the past month. Last time I wrote in you it was about Blaine and I having our one month anniversary at his house with his parents. Not exactly an amazing experience, but I'll take 200 dinners with them, where it's awkward and unconventional over the past month._

 _Because the past month has just been horrid. It's like it's an ongoing April Fool's prank that someone neglected to let me in on. Starting on the first of April, I had a horrible headache that wouldn't go away no matter what I did all day. It just wouldn't leave. I tried advil, cool cloths, and even tried working through the pain, but none of it worked. The only thing that managed to make it go away was sleeping it off. And even then I don't know if it was the sleep, or if it would have gone away on its own by then anyway. I hated it so much. It hurt so much, but nothing I could do, while conscious could help it. I think it was then that I really realized that the only thing I'd be able to do was to sleep it off if it ever came back._

 _And come back it did. Came back numerous times. Later the next week….the day after that….a couple the next week…a few more after that. They never seem to leave me alone for more than a few days. It's eerie. I even fought with Blaine over it. Yep! I, Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, fought with Blaine Jacob Anderson. Such a foreign concept. Oh shut up, I know I'm being facetious here. We've fought plenty, but not since we actually started dating. We worked everything out in the end though, but it was scary. I thought for sure he was going to say that he couldn't be with me, until I worked out the problems with the migraines, or at least attempted to. Because he was adamant about me going to see a doctor…even having his mom pull a migraine-vention on me. God, I love him, but that was beyond his usual level of crazy._

 _But then yesterday, I had the worst migraine of my life. I had to leave school during second period because it was so bad, and that was after leaving first period for the nurse's office. Sadly sleeping it off didn't work once I got home. Which is why I'm writing in you right now at precisely 10:49am. I stayed home from school today, because I just couldn't go back to school with this monster hanging over my shoulders. It's too much. I'm getting a small reprieve right now, because I just had my morning coffee and it seems to be settling the migraine back a little in terms of symptoms. Pain is still at an almost unbearable level, but I'm no longer seeing the walls making weird shapes, or wanting to bash my head in when my dad drops a couple pots as he's trying to clean up from breakfast._

 _Anyway, I think I'm going to go take a long hot shower and see if I can relax enough to make some of the tension in my shoulders go away. So long Diary._

Kurt closed his journal, and placed it back into his bottom desk drawer, underneath all of his CDs and schoolbooks. He didn't want Finn snooping around and finding it. He may be very in touch with his feminine side, but even he didn't need the flack he'd get from the ND boys if they found out he kept a journal. But that was neither here nor there, because as long as he hid it, they'd never know. So he stood up and walked into his adjoining bathroom to hop into the shower. There were three bathrooms in this house. The master bathroom, the bathroom in Kurt's room, and the bathroom downstairs near Finn's room. There had initially been a dispute between Finn and Kurt about who would get the bedroom with the adjoining bathroom, but Kurt won out in the end, claiming that his bathroom needs outweigh Finn's who only uses it to bathe and void his bowels. Kurt spent at least 4x more time in the bathroom than Finn, so it was decided that he'd get it.

As he undressed, he let the hot water run in the shower, so that when he got in he wasn't shocked with the cold of the unused water in the pipes. Because cold water on his skin would probably shock him too much and cause him more pain than he was already in. Once he stepped in he let the water run over his body just relaxing his muscles as if he had been working out all day, instead of sleeping in until 9:30 and not getting out of bed until 10am. Burt and Carole had told him that they wouldn't force him to school the next morning if he was still sleeping it off in the morning. Which pretty much gave him an out in case he wanted to just skip school, but you don't just _skip_ school at Dalton. Because doing so would severely kill your ability to get back on track. So you only took time off when you were desperate. Kurt was desperate today.

About 15 minutes later Kurt made his way out of the shower and laid down on his bed, with nothing but a towel around his waist. The coffee he had drank earlier was slowly leaving his system and all the other symptoms that had temporarily left him were coming back. He groaned and grabbed his pillow and placed it over his face, immediately screaming into it. He was getting incredibly tired of all this crap. "What did I do to deserve these fucking migraines?" He asked himself, but since no one was in the immediate vicinity, there was no answer forthcoming.

He woke up about 45 minutes later. Because apparently after an incredibly hot shower, and an already painful migraine, his body put him to sleep once again. It was almost noon and Kurt still couldn't get rid of this damn migraine. He was also still lying on his bed in nothing but a towel. Sighing he got up and threw on some clothes. Yes, Kurt Elizabeth Hummel was just throwing on some clothes, because he wasn't going anywhere today. He'd be spending most of the day in his room, with the lights off, and the blinds drawn, so who would see him if he was just in a tshirt and sweat pants? Yes these migraines had reduced Kurt to wearing sweatpants, _outside_ of gym class. He left his room, and walked back downstairs, eager for another cup of coffee, if it would duplicate the effects his first of the day had and make some of the symptoms go away. He found his father sitting at the kitchen table.

"Hey Dad." He said, walking into the kitchen as Burt looked up from eating his lunch, what looked to be leftovers from the night before.

"Hey bud, how're you feeling?" Burt eyed him wearily. He had never seen Kurt so needy as he was yesterday when he picked him up from school. Kurt had always been independent. Even when Kurt had been sick with the Bird Flu at the age of 10, he was never that clingy or sob so much. It scared him a little bit, and had been incredibly relieved yesterday when he told Carole he'd go to the doctor, because Burt was getting to the point where he was going to drag him there kicking and screaming if he had to.

"Ehh." Kurt shrugged. "I could be better." Kurt walked over towards the coffee machine and sniffed at it. He groaned. "Is this decaf?" He asked his father, dreading hearing the answer.

"Mhm. I'm surprised you're asking _me_ that question, and not just assuming." Kurt let out a whimper and dropped his head down and let out an exaggerated sob. Kurt unceremoniously poured what was left in the coffee pot into a cup and then refilled the entire machine with the good stuff, the real stuff. The caffeinated stuff. "What's wrong bud?" Burt asked.

"My head felt a little better earlier after I had my first cup of coffee. I was hoping that another might work the same way now that some of the crap side effects are coming back." Once Kurt had refilled the coffee maker with new grounds and more water, he quickly placed his mug underneath the drip spout. He wasn't wasting any time and was going to start drinking it the moment he could, which included before the entire pot filled up.

"Don't drink too much kiddo. You wouldn't want to get a caffeine headache…" Burt warned him, but Kurt just turned and glared at his father.

"Hey, I'll take a caffeine headache over a migraine headache any day Dad."

"I just don't want you in more pain than you already are, son." Kurt sighed.

"I know Dad, but sleeping and caffeine are the only things that seem to ever work, and sleeping hasn't been working so I'm left with caffeine. At least until the doctors…" Kurt trails off. He's still a little uncomfortable with the idea of going to the doctor, but still wants these migraines to go away, so will do anything to make them leave.

"Speaking of, I called Dr. Randle's office. The next available appointment is on Friday the 6th at 4pm." Kurt whimpered.

"That long?" Kurt knew that a doctors appointment over a week away was a bad thing for him. It gave him 10 days to talk himself out of going once the migraine went away. It gave him time to work himself into a panic and refuse to go. Burt nodded. Kurt sighed, but saw that his coffee was ready and grabbed it, taking a sip of it quickly before placing 2 spoonfuls of sugar, and a little milk into it.

"Sorry, but Dr. Randle is out of town all this week, and is booked solid next week." Kurt groaned.

"Any way we can find another doctor around here? I know Dr. Randle has been our family's physician for…well ever but…"

"I already checked with the other doctor in town." Burt shook his head. "But they are booked even more packed than Randle is, and they won't take emergency appointments."

"Ugh" Kurt groaned. "I guess this is just karma working its course. I've been so obstinate about going to the doctor, that when I finally decide to go, I can't. Poetic really…" Kurt sighed, picked up his coffee mug and went back to his room. "I'm gonna go lie down again…"

But he did absolutely no such thing. Immediately after he got upstairs he got out his phone, and texted Blaine. It was the middle of fourth period, but Blaine had Mr. Marlowe, the History teacher whom everyone knew was practically blind, so provided Blaine remembered to put his phone on vibrate, wouldn't get in trouble.

 _[12:25.09pm]Good news: I finally caved and agreed to go to a doctor. Bad news: Soonest appointment is on the 6_ _th_ _of May. - K_

A few minutes later, Kurt got a response.

 _[12:28.35pm]I'm proud of you. :) But that sucks its so far away. No way you can get a sooner time? - B_

 _[12:29.12pm]Nope. - K_

 _[12:32.52pm]I'm sorry. On the bright side, your migraine must be doing better if you can stand to look at the light of your iphone. - B_

 _[12:35.59pm]Slightly. Photo/phonophobia isn't as bad, but pain is still excruciating. I just wish I was at school… without the migraine that is. - K_

 _[12:40.47pm]Want me to come over after Warblers, or are you going to be going back to sleep all afternoon? -B_

 _[12:43.39pm]Definitely come over. I don't think I could sleep another wink for the rest of the day. Which is going to suck. - K_

 _[12:44.56pm]Will definitely do that. - B_

 _[12:46.03pm]Feel better. :) - B_

Kurt sat on his bed, with his phone in his lap and just sighed. What was he going to do until 5:30 when Blaine finally managed to get here? He took out his earphones and plugged them into his iPhone, lowering the volume so it was very low and hit play. Immediately Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" started playing. It was really different listening to this song on a low volume, but it was interesting at the same time. But slowly but surely, the music began to weigh on his head. The phonophobia was back, and even the soft volume was bothering him. Would this never end? Kurt looked at the time on his phone.

[12:52.05pm]

Kurt was never going to get through this day.

It was 2:30 and Kurt was sitting on his computer, working on the Macbeth essay that he was assigned on Monday, that was due this Friday. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. Because in the past 36 hours, he had slept for about 24 of them which was quite a lot for him. So he knew that he needed to get some work done, to concentrate on something besides the raging pain that was ever present on the right side of his head. He looked up from his paper for a moment, trying to readjust his eyes after staring at his computer monitor for the past 20 minutes, when he received a text.

 _[2:31.25pm]So Wes decided to cancel Warblers practice again. Citing that since you're not here, there's no use having a full practice. - B_

Kurt rolled his eyes.

 _[2:33.08pm]He does remember I'm only soloing in 2 of the numbers for the retirement home show next week, right? 2 out of 7? - K_

 _[2:35.18pm]Don't ask me to explain what goes on in Wes' mind. So still want me to come over, even though it's a bit earlier than originally planned? - B_

 _[2:35.45pm]YES. - K_

 _[2:37.57pm]I've been bored out of my mind. The migraine won't go away, I can't sleep, can't concentrate on the Macbeth essay for English, and am damn near going insane. I need my boyfriend to come and distract me. - K_

 _[2:38.56pm]I'm on my way. :) - B_

He was ecstatic. Blaine was what he needed to help him get his migraine to go away. Maybe some alone time with his boyfriend, would perk him right up, because god knows nothing else has yet today. It was going to take about a half hour for Blaine to get to Kurt's house. Kurt quickly saved his Macbeth essay and shut his computer down. It definitely wasn't going to be in use while Blaine was there.

He pulled the shades back from the window, so he could reacquaint the room with natural light once again. He let his eyes readjust and noticed that when the light entered the room, it didn't hurt him quite as bad. Maybe the migraine was going away on its own. After all it had been going full strength for close to 28-29 hours by now. He went downstairs where his father was just coming out of the kitchen.

"Hey bud, I just got a call from Larry down at the shop. There's an emergency and they need me to come in. You going to be okay?" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Yes dad, your seventeen year old son can take care of himself for a few hours. Anyway, Blaine's coming over." Burt gave him a look.

"I thought you…or I guess he today, had Warblers practice?" Burt asked, while Kurt shrugged.

"Wes is anal and apparently doesn't like to practice without every soloist present." His father nodded.

"Okay then." He pursed his lips. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do…" He tried to tell his son, who just shook his head.

"Trust me Dad, nothing nefarious is on the agenda." Okay that might not be completely true… "Not with how I feel today. He's mostly coming for moral support."

"Gotcha. I should be back around normal time so long as nothing else goes wrong." Kurt nodded.

"See you later Dad." With that Bur left the house and Kurt collapsed onto the couch and waited impatiently for Blaine to arrive. He felt a little clichéd. He was so anxious for his boyfriend to come over, at which point he would probably drag him upstairs where they'd make out for the better part of an hour until someone got home. Hey whoever said kissing couldn't raise morale?

So about 20 minutes later, Kurt got up from where he was laying on the couch, as he heard the door slam on a car that had pulled up to his house a few minutes prior. He smiled and went quickly over towards the door, and opened it up literally 2 seconds before Blaine would have knocked. Kurt pulled him inside and pushed him up against the door, kissing him slowly. "I've been waiting to do that all day." Kurt whispered as he stared into Blaine's eyes. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist and pulled him closer so their lips were touching once again.

"Oh really? Been waiting to assault me the moment I get to your house hmm?" Blaine teased. Kurt just smirked.

"It's only assault if you don't want it." He said, before pushing in for another kiss. A minute later, when they broke apart Kurt finally relented. "God, I've been going crazy today Blaine." They walked over towards the couch in the living room and sat down, Blaine up against the arm rest and Kurt nestled into his side.

"Well I'm here now, let's see if we can take away some of the crazy." Kurt smiled. He leaned up and kissed Blaine once again, who responded just as eagerly as he did before. A few minutes later, once they came up for air, Kurt felt a little bit better, if just because he was on an adrenaline rush from finally not being bored for once all fucking day.

"So you know my day sucked. Anything happen at Dalton that I should be made aware of?" Kurt asked as he settled back into his boyfriend's arms. Blaine tensed a little bit. It wasn't usual for Blaine to tense up when talking about Dalton, so it alarmed Kurt. "What's wrong?" Blaine hesitated, but eventually sighed.

"Some of the guys at Dalton…not the Warblers, but others…think you're…faking the migraines." Blaine admitted. Kurt sat up quickly and looked at Blaine, shock written all over his face. "I tried explaining it to them, but none of them could quite understand the concept of migraines. They all know headaches, but none of them have ever experienced something like this." He explained.

"So what? They think I'm some sort of hypochondriac?" Blaine nodded.

"After you left Aunt Jen's class yesterday, wasn't seen all day, or today…they think you're faking it. Especially because some of them saw us talking before classes started yesterday, and well…you didn't seem in any pain." Blaine gave him a pointed look.

"For fucks' sake. It only started in French. The only reason I had to leave anyway is because Jeff's grating voice damn near killed me." Kurt shook his head, anger seeping out of every pore. "This is ridiculous."

"It is indeed. But it's gossip. You'd think an all boys' school would have less gossip, but nope we seem to go through a lot of it. Now that I think about it, you've been at the center of a lot of gossip this year, actually." Blaine chuckled, and Kurt looked affronted.

"What do you mean?" But Blaine just shrugged.

"Well you're you, Kurt. You show up at Dalton on the day we have an impromptu performance," that had been scheduled 3 weeks ahead of time to give the Warbler ample time to practice the routine. "You aren't wearing the uniform, which makes you stick out like a sore thumb." Blaine said, using Kurt's words from that day, which made Kurt give a soft smile. "After you left that day, news spread across campus like wildfire. No one knew what to make of you, but I couldn't help but talk about you constantly, much to Wes and David's annoyance." Blaine blushed, which Kurt found endearingly cute and once again leaned up to brush his lips across Blaine's.

"Well in the interest of full disclosure, I did much the same about you." Kurt said as he pushed his arm underneath Blaine's back, wrapping himself around Blaine, allowing them to snuggle more effectively on the couch. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt as well, pulling him closer. "What happened next?"

"Well soon it got around campus that the Warbler lead soloist was having a torrid affair with a member of the competition. That was particularly annoying. I still never found out who started that particular rumor. Wes and David swear it wasn't them, but I'm not sure if I should believe them or not." Kurt's face went from shock, to amusement, to hilarity in a matter of seconds.

"A torrid affair, huh?" Kurt asked, looking up at Blaine coyly.

"What's going through your mind, Kurt?" Blaine asked. But Kurt didn't say anything, just withdrew his hands from around Blaine's torso and quickly moved to straddle Blaine.

"Oh nothing…" Kurt said nonchalantly. "Just a thought…." He pursed his lips, pretending that he was deep in thought.

"About what, pray tell?" Blaine asked, his hands resting precariously on Kurt's hips.

"Making that rumor true…" Kurt whispered in Blaine's ear as he quickly went to work kissing his way from his ear, down the jaw where he finally found Blaine's lips. Blaine moaned but grasped Kurt's hips harder and pulled him closer. As their mouths met and tongues battled for dominance, Kurt's hands set about finding the buttons on Blaine's dress shirt and undoing them. He pulled his mouth away from Blaine's, relishing in the whimper that came from Blaine afterwards, so he could kiss down his jaw.

"Kurt…" Blaine groaned as Kurt's mouth and hands found his bare chest. "Whoa Kurt…" Blaine grabbed a hold of Kurt's hands and held them still, forcing Kurt to look up at Blaine questioningly.

"Seriously?" Kurt asked, astonished. "We finally have some alone time to fool around a little bit, and you're stopping me?" Blaine shook his head.

"Absolutely not. I just think it'd be a little odd if Carole or Finn came home to find us like this….in the middle of the living room…. On the couch." Kurt blushed.

"Oh…" Kurt shook his head. "Let's…go up to my room." Kurt go up and helped Blaine up.

"Let's…"

 

The next day at school, Kurt found himself in French class once again. The migraine had left him for the most part. Pain still there a little bit, but there were none of the other symptoms. It was about 2 minutes until the bell rang, and Madame Monroe called him up to the front of the room to talk to him, probably about what he missed while he left and was gone. "How are you feeling, Kurt?" She asked him. He see-sawed his hand back and forth.

"I've been better. My head still hurts a bit but I'm not dizzy or nauseous. I'm not experiencing light or sound sensitivity so all in all, it could be better, but I've experienced worse, and I much prefer this." She nodded.

"Have you thought any more about going to see a doctor?" She asked, slightly hesitant only because she knew how much he disliked going to see doctors, but he surprised her by nodding.

"I'm going next week, on the 6th. Sadly, that's the soonest open appointment they have." She gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Well at least you're going, that's a plus right?" Kurt nodded a little.

"Yes, and no. I wish I didn't have to go, but the migraine the past two days made it impossible not to. It only got worse after I went to the nurse on Tuesday. I slept in her office for about an hour and a half until my dad came to pick me up. It was almost as if sleeping made it worse for this one."

"Ouch…" She said, and he just nodded.

"Yea… But provided the debilitating symptoms don't start up again, I should be good. I can handle the pain…it's everything else…" She nodded. As someone with MS, she knew that it's not the pain that debilitates you, it's everything that goes along with it.

The bell rang, and Kurt sat back down at his seat. While Madame Monroe was busy passing out some tests from a week or two ago, a couple kids around him, were asking him questions. "What happened to you?" Robert, a sophomore asked him. "Everyone is saying that you faked a headache to get out of school for two days."

"I heard that you faked the headache so you could go to a concert yesterday and not have it seem like you were playing hooky." A junior named Neil asked him. Kurt just shook his head.

"I had a migraine. I had a debilitating, migraine headache." He told them simply, trying to dispel any of the rumors that he was a hypochondriac, or faker before they could get worse.

"Headaches aren't debilitating though…" Robert pointed out to him. "I get them all the time, but they don't force me out of class."

"I didn't say I had a headache, I said I had a migraine headache. Dizziness, nausea, light and sound sensitivity, the feeling that something sharp and jagged is sticking out of your head…Ever had one of those types of headaches?" Kurt asked, and Robert just shook his head. "Then shut up and don't talk about what you don't know." Kurt snapped. He rubbed his temples and tried to ward off any extra pain that was likely to result from this small altercation.

"Well, I think you're just trying to gain sympathy. Headaches aren't something you should be skipping school for." Neil said, trying to act as if he were better than Kurt, because he had perfect attendance all year long.

"Neil, don't talk about what you don't understand." Kurt nearly yelled, causing Madame Monroe to look over towards them.

"Est-tout bien?" ("Is everything alright?"). she asked. Kurt was torn, between telling her that they were harassing him about his illness, or just letting it go. He settled on the latter.

"Oui Madame…" (Yes M'am.) But she didn't look convinced.

"What's going on?" She asked, in a stern voice, that Kurt knew better than to go against. Sighing he told her what Neil and Robert had been doing. She looked ashamed at her students.

"Do any of the rest of you feel this way?" She asked them. Some of them, nodded their heads, the rest stayed still. "Has anyone in this room, besides Kurt ever experienced a migraine?" One person raised their hand. It was a senior named Stuart.

"I do, Madame." He answered weakly. He was the type of student who stayed to himself and didn't really make many friends. "I've had them on and off for 5 years." He admitted, and Kurt looked at the boy sympathetically.

"So you know how horrible they can be?" He nodded.

"Would you mind coming up to the front?" He got up and walked towards the front of the room. "Would you mind telling everyone exactly what migraines are like?" He shrugged.

"They suck." A few people laughed, including Kurt. Kurt didn't know what Madame was playing, having Stuart explain what migraines were like, but she had to have something up her sleeve. "They're like …. Well you know those after school specials, where they show an egg, and say 'this is your brain….and this is your brain on drugs' and smash the egg to smithereens with a frying pan or something?" Everyone nodded their head, either because they saw those specials, or understood the concept. "It's like that, except there's no drugs to mess up your brain. There's no rhyme or reason for the migraines. It just makes it awful. You feel dizzy all the time, and the dizziness causes nausea which will occasionally make you vomit. But when I've had my migraines, I don't have much of an appetite so I end up dry heaving the entire time."

Kurt hadn't experienced dry-heaving, or vomiting yet, and he sincerely hoped he hadn't.

"Then there's the sensitivity to light and sound. Imagine you're in the middle of a dark room…say a movie theater in the middle of the day, and then you walk outside into the bright sun. How horrible it is on your eyes as they try to adjust. But that's a constant with a migraine. You don't a reprieve 30 seconds later after your pupils have dilated and have grown accustomed to the brightness of the outside. Following that, it's the sound sensitivity… It's like going to a rock concert where the bass is pumping and you're standing incredibly close to one of the speakers and it's just feels like it's pounding on your head every minute of the concert. You can't do anything about it but leave the concert, but with a migraine, you can't leave the concert. It's always happening, until the migraine goes away on its own."

"It's true." Madame said. "I myself, have experienced migraines as well, and he explained them particularly well. Migraines are things we call Invisible Illnesses. They cause pain and suffering to the person they plague, without showing any outward symptoms. I bet you can't tell right now, that Kurt still has somewhat of a migraine right now, but is powering through it to come to class so he doesn't miss anymore." She said pointedly at Robert and Neil.

"It's true." Kurt admitted. "My head still hurts, even through all this. My father even suggested that I stay home another day, but I couldn't do it. There's only so much I can do to get rid of it, and sleeping all day every day isn't something I like to do." Madame nodded.

"So the next time you think that someone is faking it, because of a migraine, please remember these two gentlemen, and what they suffer through without anyone being able to see."

Kurt looked at her, a little shocked. She herself was a sufferer of an Invisible Illness and didn't announce it to the class. Maybe it was because she didn't want to use up more class time on this subject, it was already 7:30, a half hour into class and they hadn't done any work yet. Kurt shrugged it off, and took out his French book. "Now, let's finish reading this section of Les Mis, and then we can discuss it."


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Blaine enjoy a pleasant Saturday afternoon exploring new headache relieving techniques, while we learn a little bit of insight into why Kurt has his aversion to the medical profession.

_April 30th_ _,_

 _So the past few days have been horrible. First I had the worst migraine of my life, then I find out I can't go to the doctor until the 6_ _th_ _of May, and then I find out that half of Dalton thought I was faking migraines to get out of school. Because who in their right mind would willingly take off time from Dalton, this close to Finals? Neil, Robert and I got into an argument in the beginning of French class on Thursday over my migraines. They thought I was faking it. They thought that migraines weren't real. That they were just normal headaches and they weren't reason to skip school._

 _I guess I should be happy that I at least have one member of the faculty at Dalton who can back me up when I say that migraines kept me home from school. Madame Monroe really has been a lifesaver. She rescued me from that dangerous argument…and by rescued me I mean saved me from getting expelled after nearly beating those two to a bloody pulp if they asked me any more questions. Because I was close to it. Most people here at Dalton don't think that I can throw a punch, or defend myself. But I put up with Karofsky for a long time. I'm stronger than they think I am. She got them to understand that migraines are real, which I'm incredibly thankful for._

 _The migraine went away later that day, and I haven't had one since, which is really a good thing. I'm thankful, really I am. But now that the pain and suffering from the migraine is gone, all the fears and doubts about going to the doctor are returning. I know that I need to go, if only to find a way to stop the migraines after they've started, because I can't afford to miss more school because of them, but at the same time, I really don't want to go._

So it's Saturday afternoon and Kurt spent most of the morning doing homework that he had to catch up on. Carole and Burt had gone off for the day to see Carole's parents in Columbus, while Finn was planning on going to Pucks soon. So Kurt was home alone, which is how he liked it. There were 3 chapters to read for History, the full play Pygmalion to read, including handout questions at the end of the assignment, and then a political science assignment which required him to pick a topic regarding anything to do with Congress, and write a report on it. A 7 page report on it, luckily double spaced, so it was really only 3 ½ pages single spaced, which Kurt could do in his sleep. He had about 15 more pages to go on the History reading, another Act to go on Pygmalion along with the last 3 questions on the handout, and another 2 pages (double spaced) to write his paper on. Madame Monroe had thankfully told him he could have an extension on his translation assignment. They had all been given a chapter of Les Miserables to translate into English. Kurt had one of the longer ones (as it had originally bee assigned that Monday) because he could do it much easier than most of the other students, but at the same time, with the migraine and the amount of work he had to catch up on over the weekend, she decided to give him a break, and let him turn it in a week late.

It took him until about 2pm when Blaine rang the doorbell, surprising Kurt out of his homework induced stupor. After he went to let Blaine in, and they returned upstairs Kurt collapsed on his bed. "I hate homework." Kurt said, closing his eyes and trying to relax his back, which was hurting because he had been hunched over at his desk for so long. Sitting on his desk chair is mightily uncomfortable for longer than two hour stretches at a time.

"I know what you mean. But I also don't have as much as you to catch up on." Blaine said, sitting on the edge of Kurt's bed as Kurt moved over towards the other side of the bed, giving Blaine ample room to lay down with him. They both turned onto their sides, facing one another. "How are you feeling?" Blaine asked, as he rubbed Kurt's arm with his hand.

Kurt sighed. "Slight headache, but nothing major. It doesn't prevent the other pain from happening when you spend 6 hours hunched over a desk though." he drawled. "My back and neck hurt like crazy. He said rolling his neck, trying to stretch it out some. Blaine frowned, before sitting up.

"Lay down," he motioned. "On your stomach." Kurt looked warily at him for a moment. "Just trust me…" Blaine said as he rolled his eyes. But Kurt complied. "Get comfortable…" He said as Kurt moved his arms down to his side and turns his head to the side so he was lying flat on his bed. Blaine got up and straddled him so he was sitting on Kurt's ass, then leaned down and started giving Kurt a neck and back massage.

"That feels nice…" Kurt moaned.

"Good, it's supposed to." Blaine said, as he slowly rubbed the area around the nape of Kurt's neck, that was currently holding all the tension Kurt had dealt with in the past month.

"Gosh that feels amazing Blaine, your fingers are like magic."

"Imagine what they'd feel like on bare skin…" Blaine muttered without realizing it, but when he did, he stopped rubbing Kurt's upper back and gulped. "I mean…" But Kurt laughed it off.

"I know what you mean Blaine." Kurt sighed in pleasure. "In fact, it sort of reminds me of something that I read last week…" Kurt pointed out.

"Hmmm?" Blaine murmured. "What is that?" He said, as he started back in on rubbing out the kinks in Kurt's back.

"Well, I was doing research….trying to find home remedies on getting rid of headaches…" Kurt trailed off.

"And?" Blaine prodded. Kurt brought his arms up and pushed himself, so he could turn himself over, making Blaine straddle his waist instead.

"I read that certain activities can…help stop migraines and headaches after they've started…" Kurt told him shyly, but a small grin appeared on Blaine's face.

"Oh, and what type of activities are you talking about?" He raised one of his triangular eyebrows, which made Kurt blush. But instead of telling Blaine, Kurt thrust his hips up, allowing his growing hardness to push up against Blaine's ass. Blaine gasped, and quickly pulled himself off of his boyfriend's midsection. "Are you serious, Kurt? Are you ready?" Kurt shrugged.

"I'm not ready for everything…" Kurt trailed off, but recovered after a moment. "But I'm ready to try somethings…" Kurt looked into Blaine's eyes. "I'm not ready to have full on sex yet, Blaine," to which Blaine nodded his understanding. "But I would like to try… other things." Blaine leaned over from where he was sitting on the bed, and placed his lips gently onto Kurt's.

"Are you sure?" He asked, leaning back as he took one of Kurt's hands into his own and rubbing it gently. "I don't want you to do this, simply because you think it'll get rid of a headache…." Kurt shook his head.

"That's not the only reason I want to Blaine. I love you, and yea I'm a little nervous, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to get passed second base…" It amazed Blaine that Kurt could be a coquettish little minx while still being the incredible baby penguin that he had first fallen in love with. Kurt was a lot of things, maybe they should upgrade him to baby minx status, instead of baby penguin.

"Well…" Blaine leaned in until his face was mere centimeters away from Kurt's. "I can't say that I haven't wanted to get passed second base for a while now…" Blaine said, with what could only be described as a feral grin, before he pushed his head forward and captured Kurt's lips in a bruising kiss that left Kurt breathless. As Blaine's tongue darted out to lick a line along Kurt's bottom lip, his hands began moving under Kurt's shirt, something Kurt was extremely grateful for. Kurt opened his mouth to let Blaine's tongue in as he practically pulled his boyfriend back on top of him. Blaine released his hold on Kurt's mouth before moving to his jaw, and down to his neck, and then collarbone. But as quickly as he did so, he stopped and sat back up, with the same grin on his face from before.

"What?" Kurt asked, slightly dazed. Blaine just pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. He then pulled Kurt up into a sitting position and Kurt got the message, and pulled his shirt over his head as well. All things considered, this was going to be great.

* * *

Later that day Kurt and Blaine were laying on the couch watching a rerun of House MD. It had been an amazing afternoon. The two of them spent quite a bit of time in bed, which culminated with (very quick) hand jobs that did indeed get rid of the tiny headache that had formed during Kurt's stretch of homework. "So…" Kurt started, "I'm really glad we found one way of getting rid of my headaches…" he said nonchalantly, to which Blaine chuckled.

"It definitely was interesting…" Blaine said as House was trying to undermine Cuddy for the first time all episode.

"Man, this is ridiculous. 30 minutes into an episode, and it's the first time he's trying to pull the wool over her eyes? House is getting soft in his old age…" Kurt complained

"Yea, but look at him, he's clearly in love with Cuddy, and she won't give him the time of day." Blaine argued.

"Because he's a megalomaniac who doesn't care about anyone but himself. I mean look at him, all he cares about is solving the mystery. He doesn't care about the patient, he just wants to know what's wrong, damn the consequences if the treatments he uses accidentally kills them." Kurt points out.

"But for the most part, he does cure them." Blaine tries to reason with his boyfriend, who for some reason was getting a little angry.

"But he disregards the feelings and desires of the patient. He bullies them into doing what he thinks is right, even when they don't want to do what he wants them to do! I hate people like that, who bully people into doing what they don't want to do, simply because they have this god complex and think they're right all the time. People like Gregory House, piss me off." Kurt harrumphed. Blaine didn't know what to do, or why his boyfriend was in such a mood. They had just spent a very pleasant afternoon together in his bed, doing things neither of the had ever done to someone else before. He thought that would have calmed Kurt down, but apparently not.

"Kurt, you do realize that House isn't real, right?" Blaine slowly asked, trying to not spark a fire from Kurt over this. "That doctors don't usually bully their patients into treatments?" Kurt shook his head.

"I'm not just talking about doctors, Blaine." Kurt whispered. It was then that Blaine realized what Kurt was angry about.

"Kurt, you know I'd never force you to do something you didn't want to do right? Even if I felt that you were making a mistake?" Blaine looked over at him, trying to make him see reason. "I know you don't like doctors, but I'd never do that to you."

"Then why did you?" Kurt asked, needing to know. "I would have dealt with the migraines fine, until you, my parents, and your mom got on my case. Why did you press the issue, even though you knew I didn't want to go?"

"Because I hated seeing you in pain. Hearing you complain about them, was awful," Kurt looked like he was about to get angry, but Blaine put his hand up to hold him off. "Not because listening to you complain was awful, but listening to you describe it. Trying to be sympathetic when I knew nothing of the pain you are going through. It's one thing to see someone you love in pain… But it's quite another to hear them complain about it. Especially when it is someone as strong as you, Kurt."

"What do you mean?" Blaine sighed.

"Let me put it this way. You love your dad, and think he's one of the strongest people you've ever known, right?" Kurt nodded his head. "Now when he was in his coma after his heart attack, how did you feel?"

Kurt thought about it for a moment, before speaking. "I was heartbroken. There was my father, my dad, the man who took care of me lying in a hospital bed, not being able to move, not able to speak. Not able to tell me that I was being selfish for not letting New Directions pray for him. I tried to be strong for him, but seeing him just broke my heart. Half the time I couldn't look at him for too long, without having to leave the room, because the air was so thick in that room, I just couldn't breathe." Blaine nodded.

"Now imagine being next to him, while he was having the heart attack. Watching as he clutched his chest, groaning in pain and calling out for you, or someone else to get an ambulance?" Blaine asked, and Kurt paled. "Get it now?" Kurt nodded.

"That would have been even worse. I don't know if I'd have gotten through it…" Kurt gulped.

Blaine placed his arms around Kurt's torso and squeezed. "That's how I feel every time I hear you complain about a migraine. Every time I see you trying to blink back the tears that threaten to spill from your eyes. Every time I hear you choke back the sobs that can't help but to escape. It physically hurts me every time Kurt, and that's why I wanted you to see a doctor. Because if it was that bad for me, I couldn't imagine how horrible it was for you."

"What if I said, I was having second thoughts about going to the doctor?" Kurt asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "What if I didn't want to go?"

"I'd say, it's your choice, Kurt. But I'd also say that I feel it's a stupid choice. You've already admitted once that you need help with the migraines. Don't put yourself through all that pain again, just because you're scared."

"But I am scared…" Kurt admitted. Blaine just pulled Kurt to him tighter.

"Only six more days, Kurt. Six more days until your appointment. You can do it. Don't give up." Kurt took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'll try." Blaine smiled and kissed Kurt's temple.

"That's all I ask." They both sat back to enjoy the rest of House, until Kurt spoke again.

"You know, I started watching House when it first came on Fox." Kurt started out, Blaine unsure of where it was going. "I probably shouldn't have, but I did anyway. I was 10 years old… and the first episode was…" Kurt sniffed almost inaudibly. "… on the first anniversary of my mom's death." Kurt admitted. "I watched it, not realizing how bad it would be for a 10 year old who was still getting over the death of his mother to watch, and I really shouldn't have. But it hooked me. I kept watching it, all throughout the past 7 seasons. I watched while House pined over Stacy, I watched as Chase pined over Cameron. I watched as Foreman came to the realization that he was stuck at Princeton Plainsboro Hospital for the rest of his life, because no other hospital would take him. I think…" Kurt hesitated. "I think that's where my aversion to doctors comes from…. At least partially."

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked.

"Well think about it… House does anything he can do to solve a case, even putting a patient's life in danger. I was only 10 at the time….how was I supposed to know that a doctor wouldn't do the same thing to me, if I was ever in bad enough shape?"

* * *

The following Monday, Kurt once again found himself at school. This time, he was in the library after finishing lunch, doing research on a History paper that was assigned earlier that morning. Funnily enough, Blaine found himself in the library doing research on a geography assignment, which was also assigned earlier that day. They were both studying at the same table, every once in a while a foot would find its way towards one of the legs of the other occupant at the table, making them smirk, and blush respectively. However even the pleasure of Blaine's foot finding areas of Kurt's body that definitely wasn't school appropriate, wasn't enough to keep what was coming, at bay.

As he was reading a passage in his textbook about Adolf Hitler, he once again felt the familiar twinge in the lower right quadrant of his brain. "Ugh" he groaned, making Blaine look up from the book he had gotten out of the stacks a few minutes earlier.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked, and Kurt just looked at him, with a pained expression.

"Same thing that's always wrong. A stupid fucking twinge on the right side of my brain that always seems to crop up when I least need it to." Blaine sighed.

"Four more days Kurt, four more days." Kurt nodded, knowing and being partially thankful for that knowledge.

"I just wish it was now. I'm sick of these things." He said, quickly closing up his books. He looked at his phone, which told him he only had 10 minutes until lunch was over, and he had to go to Political Science. "Ugh, I can't even go to the nurse and lie down for an hour. If anything, why didn't the twinge come an hour ago? At least then I could have done something about it." Kurt complained. Blaine sympathized.

"Do you have a test with Beaker?" He shook his head. "Then go to the nurse and take a nap." Kurt just shook his head.

"I went to the nurse last Tuesday for a migraine. If I go again today, she's going to start thinking I do it just to get out of class. Half the school already does. Thanks to your Aunt Jen though, luckily my French class had some sense slapped into them, but the rest of the school? Already thinks I'm a whiney little complainer. I don't want to give them any more ammunition unless I have to."

"It'll be better to just go to the nurse and let them speculate, than to fall prey to a full migraine halfway through class, and not be able to leave." Because they both knew Marshall Beaker was a strict man who didn't let you leave the classroom unless you were called to the principal's office, or about to die. Though with Kurt's migraines, he just might be able to convince him of the latter.

"I can handle it Blaine." Kurt sighed, trying to steady himself, and prepare his resolve for the long afternoon that was a head of him.

"I know you can, but I don't want you to." Blaine tried to remind him of their conversation from Saturday. "I don't want you to be in more pain than you have to be in because of these damn things."

"And Beaker's monotone voice, and inability to use chalk without scratching it on the board will only make it worse." Kurt conceded. "Okay, I'll go. Walk me to the nurse?" Blaine nodded, and quickly put his books away, and stuck the book he had been reading on a reshelving cart.

"Let's go."

Once they got to the nurse, she looked at the two boys, and raised her eyebrow. "Back again, Mr. Hummel?" She asked, a wry smile gracing her face. Sadly he nodded.

"He's got a headache." Blaine told her while Kurt nodded.

"I'm scared it'll turn into a migraine if I go to class." The nurse looked at him warily.

"Prior to last week, have you ever had a migraine before?" A laugh escaped Blaine's lips and Kurt glared at him, while nodding his head.

"Yes."

"How often?" Blaine just shook his head.

"I've had about…7-8 in the past month." Kurt admitted, a fact that Blaine wasn't even aware of completely.

"My, that's a lot. Have you seen a doctor yet?" Kurt shook his head.

"I have an appointment on Friday." She nodded her understanding.

"Well make sure when you go, that you get two prescriptions of whatever he or she gives you. You can't carry prescription medication here, you need to check it in with me." Kurt nodded. "I assume, you want to go lay down like you did the other day?" Kurt nodded. "Very well. What teacher do you have? I'll call'em and let'em know you won't be going to class."

"Thanks, and Beaker." Kurt said, immediately turning around and heading into one of the rooms with the cots.

"Are you sure you're not just trying to get out of class?" She joked, knowing how often people try to leave his class because of how dull he is. Both Kurt and Blaine let out a simultaneous snort.

"I'm already behind in work for his class…I just don't think I'd be able to deal with a headache, possible migraine, and his monotone voice today. It would probably make it worse." She nodded, understanding painted on her face.

"You go sleep. Mr. Anderson, unless you are sick and need to lie down, in a separate room" she smirked "you need to head on to class." Blaine blushed, but kissed Kurt on the cheek.

"Feel better Kurt." He whispered into Kurt's ear. With that Kurt went to lie down, and Blaine left the room.

* * *

The next day Kurt was scheduled to tutor John Tanner, a student in his French class who was having trouble remembering how to conjugate the passe composé, which if you asked Kurt, wasn't that hard to understand. "You use the present conjugation of avoir or être and then the correct conjugation of the past form of the verb. For most -er verbe, you remove the -er, and add an é. For most -ir verbs, drop the -ir, and add an i. For most re verbs, drop the -re, and add a u. It's simple."

"But which verbs use avoir, and which ones use être?" John asked, completely oblivious.

"Just remember the mnemonic device Dr & Mrs Vandertramp for the test." Kurt told him, while listing down all the verbs that require the verb être. Which really wasn't that many, 16 if you counted them up."

"Thanks, that'll help."

"Then you just have to memorize the irregular verbs, and you'll be set." John sat there, with a dumbfounded look plastered to his face. Kurt laughed. "C'mon. We'll go over them a few times, and then you can go over them again tonight. The test isn't until Friday…" Kurt trailed off. Friday. The day of his doctors appointment. The one he was both eagerly anticipating, and dreading. He wanted to get it out of the way, and at the same time he wanted to know what was wrong with him, that his head was hurting that much. Kurt stared off into space for a few minutes. John obviously realized something was amiss and shook him lightly.

"You okay, Kurt?" Kurt woke from his daydream and blinked a couple times, trying to get a bearing on where he was again.

"Yea…I'm fine." Kurt said, absentmindly rubbing his head. They went through the list of irregular verbs that Kurt hade made into flashcards the previous week in order to help his tutees. Kurt looked at his watch, and realized that it was nearing 3:45. Their tutoring hour was almost up. "Okay, so just review those and you should be fine. But we'll review these Thursday, and try and get you really prepared for the test?" John nodded and thanked him.

"Thanks Kurt, you're a life saver. You're the first tutor that Madame Monroe has allowed to officially tutor anyone, and a lot of us really need it." Kurt laughed.

"Yea she told me." Kurt said….and then corrected himself. "That I'm the first French tutor she's accepted into the tutoring program…"

"You really are amazing, how do you know French so well?" He asked, and Kurt just replied in French.

"Ma mère était un professeur français et elle m'a enseigné d'un jeune âge." John just looked at him blankly.

"Your mother was a French teacher and she…" Lost at what else Kurt had said.

"…taught me from a young age."

"Ahh. Anyway, you're the best. See you on Tuesday?" Kurt nodded. "See ya."

Kurt packed up all of his supplies and put them back in his messenger bag. He got up and started walking towards the parking lot, eager to get home so he could finish up on some homework, and actually be able to relax tonight. But as he left the building, he got a call from his father. After pressing answer, he said "Hey Dad, what's up?"

"Dr. Randle's office just called. They had a cancellation today, and can take you in about an hour, if you can make it there on time."

"What? Why would they, when I have an appointment in 3 days?"

"Last week, I asked them to call if they had an appointment open up for you, because your headaches were getting worse. They finally called. Can you get there?" Burt told him. Kurt started shaking a little.

"Will you be there?" Kurt asked.

Burt hesitated. "I really can't, Kurt. You're a big boy, Kurt. You can do it on your own." Kurt got to his car, and just leaned up against it.

"No, I can't dad. I'm already having an anxiety attack at the thought of going 3 days early, but without anyone else there with me? I can't do it." Kurt gulped. "I just can't."

"Okay, then. I'll tell them to just keep your appointment for Friday." It was this moment that Kurt saw Blaine walking on the other side of the parking lot, towards Kurt and his Navigator.

"Actually Dad, give me a few minutes. I'll call you back in 5." Kurt said, and immediately hung up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Blaine go to the doctors office where Kurt finds out if his fears were unfounded or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and none of them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.

"Hey Blaine!" Kurt called out. Blaine ran up to him and smiled. Kurt looked nervous, and Blaine leaned up to kiss him on his cheek as he pulled him into a hug.

"Hey, what's up?" Kurt took a deep breath.

“Wouldyoumindgoingwithmetothedoctor?”?" He said as fast as possible, and Blaine was only able to understand a few different words in that string of babble.

"All I heard was 'would' and 'doctor.' I need a few more vowels there Vanna…" Blaine joked, but he noticed that Kurt wasn't in much of a joking mood. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, sincerity plaguing his voice. Kurt gulped.

"My doctor's office called and they have an opening today…in an hour actually. They offered it to me…" Kurt told him, as calmly as someone going through a partial anxiety attack can say anything.

"So what are you doing here?" Blaine asked, eager for his boyfriend to finally go to the doctor.

"My dad can't go with me…" Kurt trailed off. Blaine nodded.

"So you were wondering if I'd go with you?" Blaine asked him, and Kurt nodded sheepishly. But Blaine just smiled, encouragingly. "I'd be happy to. I told you I'd go with you if you wanted me to." Kurt threw himself into Blaine's arms and kissed him solidly on the mouth, though it didn't go much father, because they both needed to get on the road so they could get to the appointment.

"Thank you." Kurt whispered. Blaine said, just embraced his boyfriend, rubbing his back up and down with both his hands.

"Everything will be fine." He whispered. He then opened the passenger side door of Kurt's Navigator for Kurt to get into. "Get in." Kurt just gave him a look, as if he were saying 'Bitch, you're going to drive my car?' But Blaine just waived it off. "Kurt, you're shaking like a leaf, not the best thing to do while driving. I'm going to drive you to the doctor, and then you're going to talk to him, and then everything will be fine. Do you trust me?" Kurt nodded his head.

"Yea, I trust you when you say everything will be fine. But I don't usually trust anyone else driving my baby…" Kurt snarked, which made Blaine smile.

"Your baby will be fine." Blaine drawled while rolling his eyes. "Now let's go, he said as he pushed Kurt into the vehicle and then ran around to the other side and hopped into the driver's seat, put his hand out so Kurt could hand him the keys. Started up the car, and they were off.

* * *

As they're sitting in the corner of the waiting room biding their time until the nurse would call them in, Blaine had his arm wrapped around Kurt's shoulders while whispering words of encouragement into Kurt's ear. "Just think, the next time you get a migraine, you might be able to get rid of it in less than an hour." Kurt smiled at that one, but it still didn't quell his fear. They sat there for a few more minutes, until the nurse came through the door and called out

"Kurt?" He and Blaine both stood up, but Kurt didn't move once he was vertical.

"C'mon Kurt. You can do it." Blaine stood behind him, hands on his shoulders, pushing him in the direction of the lovely redheaded nurse who was smiling. "Man up Kurt, you can do this." It was oddly reminiscent of the Gap Attack, except Kurt was the frightened one, and Blaine was the one giving words of encouragement.

"I can do this…" Kurt said aloud, but mostly to himself, as he slowly started putting one foot in front of the other. Blaine kept his hands on Kurt's shoulders, making sure his boyfriend kept walking forward.

When they got back into the exam room, Blaine sat down in the chair, while Kurt sat on the exam table. "It's not so scary in here, is it?" Blaine asked, trying to calm Kurt down a bit, which didn't do much. Kurt shook his head, but was still breathing heavy. "Kurt, calm down. Everything will be fine. The nurse already took your blood pressure, temperature, checked your eyes and ears and now we're just waiting on the doctor. All you have to do is answer questions now."

"How would you know?" Kurt bit back.

"My mom is a neurologist?" Blaine deadpanned. "I've asked her what would happen in situations like this many times growing up. Trust me, just answer honestly, and the doctor can do what's best for you." Blaine stood up and walked the couple of feet over towards the exam table, sat behind Kurt and slowly started to rub his shoulders. Kurt nodded and just leaned forward, allowing Blaine to rub his shoulders easier.

A minute later, they heard a knock on the door and Dr. Randle came into the room. "Why hello Kurt, it's been a while, hasn't it?" He said the moment he stepped into the room, before he saw Blaine in the room.

"Yes….yes it has." Kurt said.

"Well who is this?" the doctor asked, as he noticed Blaine.

"Oh, this is Blaine." Kurt stammered out. Blaine slipped off the exam table, and shook the doctor's hand.

"Hi, what he's not saying in his time of nervousness, is that I'm Blaine, his boyfrined." The doctor looked at them speculatively, but smiled.

"I'm glad you've found someone Kurt." He said. "Your father's been telling me about you every time he comes in for his monthly checkup." Since the heart attack, Burt had been returning to their family's doctor once a month to make sure everything was looking good. "Going to Dalton now?" He asked, eyeing the blazers.

"Yea…since November." Kurt informed him. "Had to transfer due to…well let's just call it bullying and leave it at that." Blaine snorted, but said nothing.

"Mhm, he also told me a couple weeks ago that you were having migraines, and I see here, that this is the same reason you're here today?" Kurt nodded.

"They've been horrible. Just keep getting worse and worse." The doctor nodded.

"How long have you been getting them?" Kurt thought for a moment, and then answered.

"I got my first one on April 1st. I thought it was Mother Nature playing a cruel April Fools Prank on me, but they've just been coming back." The doctor made a notation in his chart.

"What do they feel like? Is it only one type of headache, or are they varied?" Kurt thinks about it again, and shakes his head.

"No, most, if not all of them, centralize on the right side of my head. Starting from the back, and going forward. It starts out as if someone is sticking a pin into a voodoo doll's head, but then it turns into a dull throbbing constantly throughout the entire right side of my brain. But I'll still get the pin pricks occasionally."

"Hmm…" The doctor made another notation on his chart. Kurt was getting a little annoyed with the lack of responses from his doctor. Kurt wanted answers, not to answer questions himself. "Any other symptoms besides the pain?" Kurt let out a bark of laughter as Blaine chuckled for a moment.

"What symptoms do I not experience? Nausea, dizziness, sensitivity to light and sound. Sometimes my head feels really heavy, as if my neck is too weak to keep it up."

"Have you experienced an aura, at all?" Kurt looked at him funny.

"What's an aura?" He asked.

"Well, it's a play on your senses, really. You can see things like flashing bright lights or wavy lines, that aren't really there. Hear things that no one else can, or smell odors that aren't present in the area. Anything like that?"

"Not that I remember. I remember a funny thing happening with the walls last week, where they kept looking like they were moving, but I blamed it on the dizziness."

"It's possible. It's also possible that you'll develop these symptoms as time goes on. So keep an eye out for any of these things, so we can get a better idea of how your migraines work."

"Will do."

"Do you know of any triggers, that might cause these migraines?" Kurt shook his head.

"I told him to start keeping a headache diary, but he refused." Blaine inserted his two cents.

"Do you have migraines?" Blaine shook his head.

"No, but I know a lot of things about migraines and the brain that the average teenager doesn't. The perils of having a neurologist for a mother." The doctor nodded his head.

"She would know." He said, turning back to Kurt. "Now Kurt, I need you to be completely honest with me on the next few questions, okay?" Kurt nodded his head.

"How often have you had headaches or migraines?" Kurt gulped. He hadn't really admitted this statistic to anyone yet. He admitted when he had a migraine, but never when he had a simple headache.

"Umm.. Well since April 1st, I'd say I've had about 9 migraines." Blaine's jaw dropped. "But simple headaches? I think I've had roughly 10 to 15." Kurt admitted, and Blaine's jaw hit the floor.

"That's quite a bit. Why haven't you come in sooner?" The doctor asked, concerned for his patient's health.

"No offense to you, but I don't like doctors….in general." Kurt murmured, which the doctor took as a sign to ignore for now.

"Have they affected your schoolwork lately?" Kurt nodded.

"I took a day and a half off of school yesterday." Blaine coughed. "Okay, I was only in class for 30 minutes that first day, and spent 2 hours in the nurses office trying to sleep one away before my dad came to pick me up. I've had trouble concentrating on homework for more than 10-15 minutes at a time, because staring at a page in a book causes me to get pains like…right in the back of my eyes…which then moves and becomes a full headache or even worse, a migraine."

"Okay, it sounds like to me, you're suffering from chronic migraines, which I'm sure you already figured out." Both Blaine and Kurt nodded. "I'm going to prescribe you two things. One is a prescription strength naproxen, which is pretty the equivalent of popping three Aleve." Kurt nodded. "Then I'm going to prescribe to you a medication called Imitrex. Ever heard of it?" He asked either of the two boys, Kurt shook his head, but Blaine nodded.

"It's a drug that gets rid of migraines once they've started." Blaine said, but the doctor shook his head.

"Sort of. It reduces the swelling of the blood vessels in your brain, and stopping the pain signals from being sent to the brain. But in order for it to work, it needs to be taken at the first sign of a migraine. If you take it when you have a full blown migraine, it won't work as well. Understand?" Kurt nodded, and Blaine nodded as well. "Good. Now this medication, if the pain and symptoms don't go away after 2 hours, you may take it again. But never, under any circumstances exceed more than two pills in a 24 hour period. If the two pills don't get rid of the migraine, adding another isn't going to do anything."

"So if this medication doesn't work, I just have to resort to using my old methods?" Kurt asked, which Blaine slightly blushed at, remembering their escapade from the previous Saturday.

"Take one of the naproxen, and then resort to your old methods. What have you found to work to get rid of your migraines?" Blaine let out a low gasp, which both the doctor and Kurt looked at him strangely, but Kurt just continued to answer.

"Pretty much sleep. It's the only thing I've found to get rid of…." Kurt stammered for a second, as if realizing what Blaine was getting so embarrassed about. "…the migraines after they've started." Kurt swallowed the lump rising in his throat.

"That usually works, but for now let's hope the Imitrex does." The doctor took out his pad, and wrote down the two prescriptions, and handed them to Kurt. "If the Imitrex doesn't work, I want you to come back and see me immediately. Not 5 weeks later, but immediately, understand?" Dr. Randle told Kurt authoritively, who just nodded.

"He will." Blaine told him. "Even, if I have to drag him here." he joked, which earned him a bitch!glare from Kurt.

"Okay, then if you don't have any other questions, I'm going to let you go." Kurt coughed.

"Just one…" He started, but stopped, unsure of how to phrase this. "Why do I have them?" He asked simply.

"Its hard to say. Could be triggers that you're unaware of. Could be something in your environment. Could be anything really. The first step in discovering why you have them, is to get you on these medications, to see if they can be treated by simple medicines. The second step is for you to create a headache diary. Writing down what you ate, what you did, where you went, and who you were with on days that you get migraines. Believe it or not, being around someone that causes you stress, can trigger a migraine. So you need to be specific. After a while, once you've had enough, we can slowly begin to pair down the list and see which likely causes a migraine, and which doesn't. But until then, we have to rely on the Imitrex."

"So there's nothing wrong with my brain?" Kurt asked, and the doctor pursed his lips.

"I won't say that there isn't anything wrong with your brain right now, Kurt. But there's no reason to suspect anything more than simple triggers. If after a little while, the medications don't work, and we still haven't figured out a trigger list, we'll look into other options. For now, let's focus on finding out your triggers, huh?"

"Thanks Dr. Randle." Kurt said, as he hopped off the exam table, and quickly left the room, the office, and the building with Blaine hot on his heels.


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt experienced a migraine, and the full force side effects of the Imitrex. Will they work, or will it cause more harm, than good?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and none of them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.

It wasn't until Friday evening that Kurt felt the beginnings of a migraine start to hit him. Ever since the doctor's visit he had been on the lookout for any aura like symptoms, and was keeping track of everything he did or ate in order to try and track potential triggers. He had eaten a blueberry muffin, along with some coffee for breakfast. Ate a grilled chicken salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing for lunch, along with another cup of coffee, and after school had munched on an apple after he got home. He spent the afternoon with the Warblers so any of them could be triggers and Kurt just wouldn't realize it. But here he was, sitting in the living room watching reruns of ANTM while his stepmother cooked dinner. Finn was upstairs playing video games, and Burt hadn't returned home from work yet.

He felt the familiar twinge in the back of his head. It was rather sharp, as if someone had taken a screwdriver and jammed it into the base of his skull pointing upwards. He jokingly rubbed the back of his head to make sure that there was no sharp metal object sticking out of his skull, and sure enough there was nothing there. Just another invisible pain, from his illness that was invisible to the naked eye. He remembered what his doctor said though, ' _But in order for it to work, it needs to be taken at the first sign of a migraine.'_ So he quickly gets up and goes towards the kitchen, where all the family's medicines are held. He starts rummaging through the cabinet, when Carole asks him "Sweetie, what are you doing?"

"Migraine." He said succinctly. "Doc said to take the Imitrex the moment I felt a migraine."

"This is your first one all week, right?" She asked, but Kurt shook his head.

"No, I had one on Monday, but none since then. I should consider myself luck though. I went 3 ½ days without a migraine, that's almost a record." He said sarcastically, but Carole just shook her head.

"I hope this medication works for you Kurt. I hate that you have to suffer with them so often." Kurt agreed with her.

"Yea, I hate that I have them too." He said, as he pushed the little pills out of the small packet that they came in. He grabbed a glass from the drying rack on the side of the sink and filled it with water from the tap. They had a purifying filter on their faucet, because Kurt refused to drink straight tap water. "Well…. Here goes nothing." He said as he tossed the pill in the back of his throat, and quickly drank the glass of water down as quickly as possible. He went back over towards the cabinet with the medicines and took another look at the bottle. He turned it so he could see the warning label.

 **DO NOT CHEW OR CRUSH, SWALLOW WHOLE** 'Did that.'

 **MAY CAUSE DIZZINESS '** Great. Just what I need, a side effect to add to a symptom.'

 **MAY CAUSE DROWSINESS. ALCOHOL INTENSIFIES EFFECT. USE CARE USING MACHINES** 'Luckily, I'm not planning on going anywhere soon…. Nor do I plan on drinking' He thought to himself. But really? The migraines already made him want to sleep constantly, and this medication was going to make him sleep even more? And what about the dizziness thing, he already got dizzy from the migraines, now he had to add to it? This just was not going to be good. Kurt could feel it.

* * *

About 20 minutes later, Burt had finally gotten home, and was showering off all the grime that came from working on cars all day. Carole was just finishing up dinner, it was a lasagna and never has Kurt ever tasted something so delicious and tasty as Carole's lasagna, but at this very moment, eating was the last thing on his mind. He could feel his head starting to pound, but in a different way. It was like all the arteries, veins and capillaries in his brain were bursting at their seams.

"Dinner's gonna be ready in about 10 minutes Kurt!" Carole announced, walking into the living room, not seeing that he was lying on the couch, with a pillow over his eyes. "Do you mind setting the table?" Kurt just groaned. He'd love to set the table, but currently his head felt like it weighed 2 tons, he told her just that. "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"This medication, it's making my head feel like a baby's. Like it's 10 times heavier than normal and my neck is too weak to hold it up. I feel like I should be propping it up against my arm or something." He groans, pillow still over his head, blocking out the light from the kitchen that was trickling in.

"Not getting any better, huh?" Kurt groaned again.

"Nope. If anything this medication is making it worse. Like I can't do anything but lay down because I can't hold my head up." He whined. She walked around to sit on the edge of the couch and removed the pillow. Kurt winced as the bright light hit his eyes but he quickly closed them to hold off the onslaught of pain that was about to come.

"Why don't you eat in here tonight?" She offered, which was something Kurt was shocked at, considering it was Friday Night Dinner and they all ate together on Fridays. "Then get some sleep. Clearly, this medication just isn't working if it's making the migraine worse." Kurt nodded.

"Thanks Carole. You know I wouldn't skip Friday Night Dinners if I could help it." She smiled and just looked at him, with that pitying look. The same look he's gotten from every member of his family for the past month whenever he had a migraine.

"It's fine sweetie, you just rest and work on getting rid of the migraine. You're no good to this family if you're sick." With that she got up and walked back into the kitchen, so she could finish up dinner, along with setting the dinner table for the three members of the family who would be dining together that evening.

It both hurt and prided Kurt, knowing that his family cared about his mental pain enough to let him out of Friday Night Dinners, a staple in the Hummel house for the past 10 years, and a staple in the Hudmel house since the wedding. He loved Friday Night Dinners. The only time he ever even planned on skipping one, was the night of the Sound of Music Sing-a-long which ended up with Burt in a coma. It made him wonder. If this migraine got any worse, would he be the one that ended up in a coma?

* * *

It was thirty minutes into dinner and Kurt had just finished eating dinner in the living room, and had just said his goodnights and went up to bed. The rest of his family looked at each other and all expressed the same concerns: what was causing these migraines, and if the prescription the doctor prescribed made them worse, would there ever be anything to make them better?

"I thought the medicine Dr. Randle prescribed was supposed to get rid of his migraines?" Finn asked, and his parents just shrugged.

"Some drugs don't have the desired effect depending on the person taking them. After I broke my leg a few years ago, the doctor prescribed me vicodin to help with the pain, but it made me feel horrible. But he prescribed me percoset a couple of days later and I felt a lot better. It's why some people prefer to take Advil over Tylenol and vice versa. Personal preference, and how it reacts with your body. Clearly, the imitrex that the doctor prescribed is interacting with Kurt's body poorly."

"So what do you think the doctors are going to do now? Since this one clearly isn't working?" Burt asked his wife, who was the most knowledgeable in terms of medical treatments in the family.

"Well, there are always other medications they can try, other variations of the same type of medication. There's preventative medication, which would make Kurt having to take a pill every day, instead of just when he gets a migraine, but I think at this point, he wouldn't mind so much."

"But why didn't the doctor start Kurt on that stuff right away then? Why bother trying medicines that might not work?" Finn asked, genuinely concerned about his brother's welfare.

Carole just shrugged her shoulders as she speared another piece of food into her mouth, chewed then swallowed before answering. "We don't know if preventative treatments would work for him, Finn. Medicine isn't always cut and dry. You can't just expect the first medication to always work. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you have to go through 4 or 5 different ones to find something that works for your body, doesn't give you life altering side effects and that you can handle. We just have to give it time."

* * *

Kurt was laying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't tired, which was odd, but he couldn't sit or stand because of his head. He needed something to prop his head up because it felt so heavy. He hated imitrex. It works horribly. No medicine that is supposed to make a person feel better, should make you feel this horrible. He rolled over when he heard the familiar tune of Katy Perry's Teenage Dream start playing.

He smiled.

He knew it was Blaine. Thank Steve Jobs for caller ID on the iphones. He reached onto his end table and picked it up. "Hi Blaine."

"Hey Kurt, how's it going?" For what seemed like the 10th time that night, Kurt groaned, to which Blaine realized something was wrong. "Migraine?" He asked, knowing his boyfriend oh too well.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Now for the bonus prize, can you figure out exactly what isn't working after I took it 5 minutes after feeling the first sharp burst of pain?"

"Are you serious?" Blaine asked, exasperation woven through his voice.

"Mhm. If anything it is making it worse. The side effects of the medication, are worse than the migraine. I can't even sit up or stand, because my head feels so heavy that I can't hold it up. It's putting a strain on my neck, which you would think would be impossible, since it's not like my head has taken on extra weight." Kurt whined.

"Well it's possible that excess amounts of blood have flown to your head, making it heavier…" Blaine offered, which made Kurt scowl, even though Blaine couldn't see it.

"Thanks for the info Dr. Anderson. Can't I just vent, without getting some sort of answer?" Kurt spat out, unbelievably frustrated that he was in such misery and he couldn't find a way out.

"Whoa, sorry. I'm just offering up an opinion." Blaine apologized, but Kurt sighed.

"No, I'm sorry. I know you're just trying to help but, I'm just so sick of them. This is my 10th migraine, in a little over 5 weeks Blaine, on top of the regular headaches I've been getting inbetween the big ones. It's ridiculous. I can't go more than 36 hours without head pain and it's driving me insane. I almost want to go the way of Anne Hutchinson just to get rid of my aching head."

"Wow, do you really want to die by scalping? That seems a bit extreme."

"That's how much it hurts Blaine. Not just the pain but all the other stuff that goes along with it. I can't do anything when I have these migraines, Blaine. I can't watch TV, I can't listen to music. I can't spend time with family and friends. Just being on the phone with you is causing me anguish. I just want it to go away. This medicine was supposed to make it go away. It was supposed to take care of all the crappiness that came with the migraines. So why isn't it?"

"I don't know, Kurt. I honestly don't know."

"Why can't anything in my life, ever be easy? Will any of this be worth it one day? Will any of it finally mean something? Will all the pain, the torment, the bullying, the migraines…will any of this end in a good way? Is all this just a way of making me stronger? I know they say what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, but c'mon. This is over kill. Why do I always have to be the one who has to strengthen up? Why am I the one who has to deal with this bullshit? Can't I have one month, where I can be happy? Hell can't I have one week? Just a week? I can't remember what it feels like to go a week without something getting in the way of my happiness."

"Well, what about the week we got together?"

"Seriously? Do you remember what happened 4 days before we got together?" Kurt drawled.

"Uhh…" Blaine tried to think back. "Must have blocked it out of my memory."

"I can remind you of what happened in 3 words, or in 5 words, which would you rather hear?" Kurt told him, sickly sweet acid dripping from his voice.

"Uhh….3?" Blaine guessed.

"Spin. The. Bottle." Kurt spit out, and there was an audible gulp on the other end of the phone.

"Oh…"

"Yes, oh." Kurt rolled his eyes, even though Blaine wouldn't have been able to see it. "That was probably one of the hardest moments of my life, right after…The week prior to that…care to guess what that was?" Kurt teased. Blaine thought back. They got together on February 23rd. 4 days before that was the 19th….earlier that week was….

"Valentine's Day…"

"Ding ding ding, we have another winner! Man you seem to be winning a lot tonight."

"Ha ha." The sarcasm was delicious to Kurt's ears.

"But seriously, not all my unhappiness revolves around you. There was Pavarotti dying, us losing Regionals. Karofsky held quite a bit of unhappiness for me. Then just little things that eventually add up. I just want one week of pure happiness. Pure bliss. Is that too much to ask for?"

"No, it's not Kurt." Blaine sadly told him. "I wish I could give it to you, you know I would in a heartbeat. This can't last forever, Kurt. Things will get better. Then you'll be proud of yourself, that you managed to get through it all. Because you're amazing Kurt. I don't know how you go through all this, and still come out as vivacious as you do, but that's one of the many things I love about you."

"I love you too." Kurt sighed out, pleased that something in this sucky day was making him feel nice.

"I'm going to go." Blaine said. "Get some rest. I'll be over bright and early tomorrow."

"Why do you sound like you have a plan?" Blaine chuckled.

"Maybe I do. You'll just have to wait and see."


	14. Chapter 13

Kurt woke up bright and early the next morning without the slightest bit of pain or migraine symptoms resonating within his skull from the night before. A fact for which he was incredibly thankful. But as he laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, he thought about the day ahead. It's a Saturday. He and Blaine were likely to spend the majority of the day together. He also knew that after the monster of a migraine he dealt with the night before, he wasn't going to get any peace today until everyone gave the obligatory "How are you feeling?", "Is your head feeling better?", "Do you have a headache?" questions that seemed to happen no matter what. With that thought in mind, Kurt quickly pulled himself out of bed, and grabbed a piece of paper out of his printer. He wrote a quick note, grabbed a safety pin, pinned it to one of the lapels on his pajamas and walked downstairs. It was only 8 o'clock, so he knew that Finn wouldn't be up, and he knew that Blaine wouldn't be there yet. So he would just have to deal with Burt and Carole this early in the morning.

When he walked into the kitchen, where Burt and Carole were sitting, drinking their morning coffee. Burt's being decaf, _'it better be decaf'_ Kurt thought to himself. But when Burt saw him, he spit the sip of coffee he had taken right out of his mouth. Carole looked up from where she was sitting and started to laugh.

For on the sign that Kurt wore, said the words: **My head is fine. Any variation of "How are you feeling?" will earn you a patented Kurt Hummel bitch!glare. You've been warned.**

"Good morning, Kurt." Carole said in between chuckles. Kurt smiled at her, and went towards the cereal cabinet searching for something to eat.

"Good morning, Carole, Dad" He didn't know precisely what Blaine had planned, so he didn't want to eat a big breakfast. He pulls out a box of Wheat Chex, and pours some into a bowl. As he finished fixing the bowl, he sat down at the table and started eating.

"So I'm going to assume you slept well last night." Burt started to say, and then quickly raised his hands in defense when Kurt looked up, ready to give him a glare "Hey, a statement of speculation, not a question." Kurt sighed.

"Yea, I slept fine. Really fine actually. Then I woke up, and knew I'd have to deal with the same questions I have to deal with every morning after a migraine. It gets repetitive after a while, and is almost as bad as the migraines themselves." Kurt stared pointedly at both of the adults in the room.

"We're sorry Kurt, we just want to make sure you're feeling better." Carole tried to placate him.

"I know, really I do. But really? Dad, how did you feel every time I asked you how you were feeling after the heart attack? Carole, how did you feel when you broke your leg over Christmas? It got old, really fast didn't it? I've had to deal with this for a month, can we please get passed it? If I don't say anything, feel free to assume that I'm fine. Trust me, you'll know when I'm in pain." Kurt told them quietly, not wanting to sound like he's telling them off, but at the same time, trying to get his point across.

"We understand Kurt. We'll try to let up on the questioning." He smiled appreciatively.

"Thanks."

* * *

An hour later, Kurt was showered and dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt as he tried to figure out what he would wear that day, when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." He called, only to look over as it opened, to see his incredibly dapper boyfriend walking into the room. "Hey." Kurt walked over towards his boyfriend and wrapped his arms around his neck, leaned in and pecked him on the lips. As he went to pull back Blaine followed and quickly deepened the kiss a moment before ending it and taking a look at his boyfriend. He raised one of his triangular eyebrows.

"So you're planning on going out dressed like that?" Blaine smirked. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Haha. Maybe if I had any idea what we'd be doing today, I'd know what to wear." Kurt broke away, walking over towards his closet, searching through it once again trying to find something that would be fitting for a date he had no clue what it would consist of. "Can't you at least give me a hint of what we're doing?"

"Just dress as you would, if we were going shopping at the mall." Blaine said, and quickly caught his mistake and corrected it. "We're not spending the day at the mall shopping, Kurt Hummel. So get that idea out of your head immediately." Kurt stuck his tongue out and Blaine just stared. "I wouldn't do that unless you want me to come after it…" Kurt then arched an eyebrow as if daring Blaine to do just that, but Blaine resisted. "Just wear something casual, Kurt. You'll want to be comfortable." Blaine told him and then added as an afterthought "Just be sure to wear comfortable shoes…"

"Where are we going, Blaine?" Blaine just smiled and pantomimed zipping his lips, and throwing away the key.

* * *

"A zoo?" Kurt deadpanned. "You brought me to the zoo?" Blaine shrugged.

"I figured it's different from what we normally do. I get to spend the day walking around a zoo, looking at all the animals as I hold my boyfriend's hand proudly in public. We spend more time together this way."

Kurt just stared at him. "How do you figure?"

"Well if we went to the mall, you'd be looking through rack after rack as I hung off to the side giving yes or no answers to questions that have absolutely no bearing on if you'll actually buy the garment or not. If we went to the movies, we'd be quiet throughout the entire thing anyway. If we spent it in your house or my house, we'd…. be spending it indoors, and on such a gorgeous day like this, who wants to be indoors?" He smiled as he leaned in to kiss Kurt, slipping him some tongue almost immediately. "And if I get to sneak you off into a corner of the zoo and make out with you for a while where no one will come barging in and interrupting us, than so be it." He said after he broke away.

"I think I can learn to like the zoo."

So they walked around the zoo. They saw the monkeys, they saw the snakes and alligators. They saw the lions, tigers and bears "Oh my!" Kurt joked. Blaine had indeed sneaked them off into a small alcove around noon where they spent a good 15 minutes using nothing but their mouths, however no understandable sounds ever came out of them.

But when they got towards one exhibit, Kurt looked upon the animal inside it sadly. "Just look at the ibex, Blaine. It's got such a small head, and those horns on top. Those horns must be so heavy. Can you imagine having to keep those up all day long? How sore your neck would feel?" Kurt said, absentmindly rubbing his neck.

"Yea, they do look heavy. But the neck on the Ibex has probably evolved over time, to allow for those larger horns. Their necks are stronger than human necks, Kurt." Blaine reasoned, not quite understanding why Kurt was having such sympathy for the mountain dwelling animal.

"But on top of all that, when threatened by another male, they start butting heads. That has to give them massive headaches."

' _Ah-ha…'_ Blaine thought to himself.

"I'm sure their skulls are much harder than ours, Kurt. Their heads probably don't hurt nearly as much as ours would if we were to butt heads." He tried to console Kurt, who had walked over towards a nearby bench to sit down.

"You have no idea how horrible it is, Blaine. Feeling like your head is 10 times the size it normally is. Feeling like someone packed 5 extra brains into the same cranial cavity. It nearly killed me yesterday."

"…and you said the medication didn't work?" Blaine asked, knowing the answer before Kurt shook his head.

"It made it worse. My head has never felt that heavy before in my life; migraine or no."

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and squeezed. "That's just one medication Kurt. There are hundreds of them. Maybe the next one will help you." Blaine offered, whispering in Kurt's ear.

"Maybe, but if this one didn't help me, what's to say the next one will?" Blaine wiped a tear off of Kurt's cheek that had started to fall.

"Hey, I promised you that everything would be okay. Now I know it doesn't seem like it, but it will be. We will find a medicine that helps you. We have to, Kurt. You can't think like that." Kurt swallowed the lump that was building in his throat over the past few minutes and wrapped his arms around Blaine, much the same way Blaine's arms were currently wrapped around him.

"I love you, you know that?" Kurt said as he nuzzled into Blaine's neck. "Why is it that you always know what to say that makes me feel better?" Kurt asked.

"Because you love me, anything I say will make you feel better." Blaine joked, to which Kurt scoffed and playfully slapped him on the stomach. "I love you too, Kurt. I always will."

* * *

Once they got back to the Hudmel house, Kurt and Blaine were sitting, or more like laying down on the couch spooning. They were sharing jokes through hushed whispers and giggling whenever something amusing happened on the television, just unwinding after the day at the zoo. Burt came into the room, sat on one of the recliners and addressed Kurt. "So, I'm going to call Dr. Randle again on Monday. To see if we can get you in to see him again, to maybe try a different medication, since the last medication clearly, didn't work."

Kurt looked at him oddly. "Thanks Dad."

"Do you have anything to do this week?" Kurt thought about it, and then remembered the retirement home performance the Warblers were putting on.

"Yea, we have a Warblers performance on Wednesday." Burt nodded.

"Gotcha. Nursing home right?" Blaine shook his head.

"Retirement home, though really, same difference." Burt laughed.

"Anyway, Carole should be starting dinner soon. Blaine, are you going to stay?" Blaine looked at Kurt who nodded enthusiastically.

"If it's not too much trouble." They all smiled.

"None at all."

* * *

The following Monday, after Kurt got home from school, Burt was in the middle of the living room. "Hey dad!" he said, as he bounced into the room, dropping onto the couch finally relaxing after a stressful afternoon of Warblers practice.

"Hey son, so I called Dr. Randle's office today." He said, looking intently at his son.

"Yea, when is my next appointment?" Kurt asked, nervously. He might be eager to get rid of the headaches, but he still doesn't want to go to the doctors again.

"Well here's the thing. Dr. Randle only has Wednesday open this week, at 2pm. I know that's when you have your Warbler's performance, but I can write you a note to get you out of school early, so you can get there, and back before the performance. What time is it at?"

"3:30. I'll be cutting it close. But I think that'll work."

"That's great Kurt. Just leave school at 1:15, so you can get there on time, and you'll be fine. Just remember to tell him exactly how you felt on the medication." Kurt stared at his father.

"Wait, you're not coming with me?" He asked, astonished that his father would even suggest such a thing.

But Burt shook his head. "Sorry, I have to work kiddo."

"I don't think I can go alone, Dad. I can't have Blaine come with me during school hours." Kurt gulped, and all the color that was usually in his rosy cheeks had suddenly disappeared. His heart started to beat fast, and his breathing was becoming labored. "I can't go alone, dad. I barely had enough will power to stay in the doctors office once I got there with Blaine, I don't think I can do it on my own."

Burt sighed. "Kurt, I know you can do this. You've already been there once, and nothing bad happened. You'll be fine. Just remember, that Dr. Randle cares about you, and wants to help you. Let him help you. He can make these migraines go away, as long as you trust him."

"I don't know, Dad. I don't know…"

"You'll be fine. Nothing different is going to happen than the last appointment. Height, weight, blood pressure, eyes and ears checked, plus answering more questions. That's it. You can do it."

Kurt took a deep breath. He knew he had to do this. He knew that he had to get a new medicine to stop the pain. He knew he had to fight this fear. He knew that he was never going to get past his hatred of doctors unless he faced it head on. "Fine."


	15. Chapter 14

_Wednesday May 13, 2011_

_Well, Journal, its me again. This time I'm writing in you while waiting in the exam room at Dr. Randle's office. I've got nothing better to do. Sitting on this cold, hard table, with no one to talk to is starting to make me nervous. Especially because there are only 3 magazines in this room: Sports Illustrated, Highlights, and US Weekly. All at least three weeks old._

_Dr. Randle seriously needs to update the magazines in this place. But what else can I do? I'm stuck waiting here for him to come in. It's currently 2:06 according to my iPhone. He's late. Which is really inspiring a lot of confidence if he can't even come into an appointment on time. Why am I even here? Maybe it was just the one Imitrex that wasn't working. Maybe the others would. So there is really no reason for me to be here._

_Well it's 6:00pm now. I had to stop writing cause Dr. Randle entered the room. That's when everything went to hell._

(6:45am)

Kurt had just reached Dalton Academy. The one good thing about the uniforms at Dalton, meant that there wasn't that much of a change to Kurt's morning routine. Back when he was at McKinley, he would get up at 5:30am in order to shower, moisturize, get dressed and make sure he had everything for school. But the 20 minutes he usually spent picking out his clothes, was now spent on his drive to school. It made him happy, because he wouldn't be able to survive on less than 6 hours of sleep per night. Though with the amount of migraine he had been getting in the past month, sleep was not a foreign concept to him.

But as he got out of his Navigator, and grabbed his messenger bag, he saw Blaine getting out of his own car. He slowly and quietly walked over towards his boyfriend, who was busy getting his own bag out of his car, and didn't see Kurt coming up behind him. Kurt immediately wrapped his hands around Blaine's eyes, and said in a very low voice, reminiscent of _Give up the Funk_ , "Guess who?" Blaine jumped momentarily, bringing his hands up to the ones covering his eyes, but after a second he realized who it was.

"Well, I dunno. Soft hands…" Kurt pressed Blaine into the side of his car a little. "Hmm… Pushing me, bodily onto my car…" Kurt gave one last hint and started kissing the back of Blaine's neck. "Mmm… Thad stop it." He chuckled as Kurt scoffed and removed his hands from Blaine's eyes.

"Better not be Thad." He growled. Turning around, Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist.

"Nope, just an adorable countertenor who I can get to crack way too easily." He smiled and leaned in to give Kurt a kiss. "Good morning."

"You're cruel." Kurt glared at him, but quickly rolled his eyes.

"Am not! You wouldn't believe how many time Thad did that to me, before I met you." He teased once again, as they began walking towards the giant stone building.

"Somehow I doubt Thad walked up behind you, pressed you into your car, and started kissing your neck." But out of no where, Thad appeared.

"What did I do?" He asked, choking on what appears to be coffee from the local Starbucks. Kurt and Blaine just laughed.

"Trust me, you don't wanna know." Kurt told him, and Blaine continued to laugh into Kurt's shoulder.

"Oh…kay then. Well just wanted to let you two know, the retirement home called, we need to meet at 2:45, instead of 3:15 this afternoon, to make it to the performance on time. They want us to be there earlier, so that it doesn't cut into BINGO or something like that." Kurt stopped walking.

"I won't be there by 3..." Kurt gulped. Both Blaine and Thad turned around and saw him dead in his tracks.

"What do you mean?" But Blaine knew.

"Dr. Randle?" Kurt nodded.

"I have a doctors appointment at 2. I should be back here around 3-3:15...maybe sooner if he doesn't leave me waiting for an excessive amount of time, and if I speed, but I highly doubt I'll make it by 2:45."

"You didn't to tell any of us this earlier? You know that you can't perform with us, if you don't come with us on the bus, right?" Thad asked.

Both Kurt and Blaine let out a simultaneous "What?"

"Warbler's Handbook. If you aren't there on time, or by the time we leave, you can't perform with us. You need to either skip the doctors appointment, or rush to get back, because if Wes gets his way, we'll be leaving at exactly 2:50."

"I can't skip this appointment. My father would kill me…."

"Then you're gonna have to speed like a maniac to get back here." They had just approached the giant Oak doors and Thad went in as Kurt and Blaine stood outside for a few more minutes.

"This sucks. I can't believe I might miss this." Kurt bemoaned. Blaine shook his head.

"Nah. If I have to, I'll refuse to get on the bus until you get there. There's no way Wes will have the bus leave without me. Who would sing lead? No one else has prepared for singing lead vocals except for you and me. You'll be fine."

"I don't want you getting on Wes' bad side."

"It'll be fine, Kurt. Remember, Wes' mom has migraines too. All we'll have to do is tell him that you're going to the doctor to get them checked out and a new prescription and he'll wait for you. Trust me."

"When did you become such an evil mastermind?" Kurt asked?

"I'm not. Your abilities are rubbing off on me however." Kurt smiled and they walked inside, Kurt off to homeroom (which was technically his first period French class), and Blaine to Calculus.

* * *

8:03am

Kurt was sitting in the middle of first period French class. He couldn't pay attention, he was too caught up in the fact that in a few short hours he would be leaving school early to go the doctor. By himself. For the first time. Ever. He was also caught up in the fact that there was a possibility that he might miss the Warbler's performance that he wasn't paying attention. He was so lost in thought that he hadn't even heard Madame Monroe call his name, three times. It wasn't until Jeff nudged him in the shoulder that he came to.

"Monsieur Hummel, Est-tout bon?" (Mr. Hummel, is everything okay?) She asked, with a concerned look on her face. It made Kurt feel a tad bit guilty because if she caught anyone else daydreaming in the middle of her class she'd give them detention, not a concerned look and ask how they were feeling.

"Oui, Madame, desole." (Yes Madame, sorry)

"S'il vous plaît me voir après la classe." (Please see me after class)

"Oui Madame." Kurt groaned and went back to trying not to think about the doctor, but he just couldn't stop himself. Would the next drug work? Would it not work? Would it give him the same side effects as last time? What if there was no drug that would work, and he had to deal with the migraines forever? Would that mean that going to the doctors was a waste of time? And if it was a waste of time, why was he bothering to go in the first place?

But then he remembered, that he was going because he _didn't_ know that the medicines wouldn't work. Because he _didn't_ know if they were going to give him the same side effects. Because he _didn't_ know that no drug wasn't going to work. So he had to go.

8:20am

"Well since we've done everything I planned, I'm going to let you all go a few minutes early. Kurt stick around." Kurt took his time packing up his things, and slowly walked up to the front of the room towards her desk, after everyone had left. "So, may I ask why you were daydreaming in my class?" She asked, with a reproachful tone to her voice. Sighing, Kurt told her

"I wouldn't say I was daydreaming, to be perfectly honest. I'd say more like nightmaring."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to the doctor today…Second time in less than two weeks…. Actually it's the second time in 8 days, but that is besides the point." He gave her a weak smile. "I'm just nervous. I'm going alone, which is something…I've never done before."

"Who went with you last time?" She asked, and Kurt blushed.

"Blaine." She smiled.

"Why can't he go with you this time?"

"It's at 2, and I can't ask him to take time off of school to go with me." Kurt told her, unhappy as he was about that fact.

"No, I don't suppose you can."

"I won't zone out in class anymore. I don't foresee it happening unless I have another doctors appointment to go to, and I sincerely hope that I don't have to go to another one until school is out for the summer."

"Very well. Be sure that it doesn't. I don't want anyone else thinking I'm treating you differently, but special circumstances, are special circumstances. I understand how a doctors appointment can alter your ability to think straight." Kurt smiled.

"Thanks, Madame." With that Kurt left, and went towards his AP European history class.

* * *

10:10am

Kurt was in the middle of the lunch room, searching out for Blaine who usually was able to get his food and a table first. When he finally spotted his boyfriend, it was with Wes, David, Jeff, Nick, and Thad. _'Oh goody, impromptu Warblers meeting…'_ He said to himself, as he walked over towards the table and sat down next to his boyfriend. "Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Not much, just telling Nick and Jeff about the change in meetup time for the performance today. 2:45." Wes told him, and Blaine and Thad looked at Kurt.

"Which, I already told Thad, I won't make it to. I have a doctors appointment. I should be back around 3 or 3:15, depending on how fast I can get out of there and back." Kurt told him.

"For what?" Wes asked, as if he already knew.

"The migraines. I leave a little after 1 and get to the doctors around 2." Wes nodded.

"We'll try and wait as long as we can, but if you're not here by 3:05, I think we'll have to leave without you." Wes told him apologetically.

"I'll do my best to get back by then." Kurt told them a little agitated that they'd just so easily leave behind one of their lead vocalists, and started eating his salad.

"How have the migraines been treating you, anyway?" Wes asked, and Blaine looked at Kurt, with a knowing look.

"They suck Wes. I tried one medication, which made them worse, and now I'm going to the doctor to try another."

"You should try Imitrex, my mother swears by them." Kurt shook his head.

"Hell no. That's the stuff that made them worse." Wes looked at him funny.

"Seriously? They've never done any harm to her." Kurt shrugged.

"Congrats to her, they suck for me though, so I need something different." Kurt sighed. "I just hope that the next one works, and I don't have to keep going back."

* * *

Kurt had been sitting in the exam room for at least 10 minutes by that point, and had been getting anxious and didn't want to be in there any longer than necessary, especially since he had to be back at Dalton by 3:15 to get on the bus for the nursing home. A few minutes later and Dr. Randle knocked on the door, and walked in. "Hello, Kurt. How are you?"

"Horrible. Annoyed. Impatient. But migraine wise, perfect. Nothing yet today." Kurt replied, and Dr. Randle looked at him curiously.

"Why are you all of those adjectives?"

"I have to be back at school by 3, but I don't think I'm going to make it, and if I don't make it, I will have to miss out on attending my school's a capella choir singing, and I'm singing lead!" Kurt said bitterly.

"Okay then, let's get you out of here as quick as possible, hmm? How did the imitrex work out for you?" Kurt groaned.

"It either didn't make the symptoms go away, or it added to them. Light and Sound sensitivity didn't go away until the following morning, dizziness and nausea were horrible. Then there was the heavy headedness that I've never experienced before. It sucked, and felt like I couldn't hold my head up. Like my neck was too weak. I had to prop my head up anywhere I sat or laid down, because it hurt to hold it up."

"Yea, that's a possibility. Anyway, what about the migraines, themselves? Better or worse than usual?" Kurt shrugged and thought about it for a second.

"About the same, really. They come every couple of days, and don't go away." The doctor nodded and started writing down a few notes on his clipboard, when Kurt took a look at his phone, and saw that the time was 2:14pm. He sighed, knowing that getting back to school isn't going to be easy, if at all possible.

"Okay then, I'm going to give you a new prescription. It's another triptan, like the Imitrex." Kurt flinched and isn't sure if he likes this plan, but the doctor pushes through. "It's call Relpax, and it should work the same way the Imitrex should, but hopefully without the extra side-effects the Imitrex gave you." He sighed.

"Isn't there some sort of preventative medication I could take? So I won't get them, at all?" The doctor nodded, but quickly shot that idea down.

"There are, but most of them will make you gain weight. Plus I'd rather not put you on any long-term medication, until we try our other options." Kurt nodded, resigned to the fact that he'll have to deal with migraines for a little bit. "So use this the same way you'd you Imitrex, the first moment you feel a migraine starting, take this. After that, try to rest for a little bit as it starts to take effect."

"Thanks, Doc." Kurt said as he hopped of the table, and went to check out. He picked up his prescription at the front desk, and walked out the door. He looked at the clock on his phone, and it said 2:22. He groaned, and knew it was going to be a lesson in futility, trying to get to Dalton before they all left.

He rushed, faster than he's ever drive before. If he was on a road, where no one else was around, he'd go over the speed limit by about 15 mph, and he knew that wasn't even going to be enough. He plugged his phone into the Jupiter jack at the next stoplight, and called Blaine. He answered after the 2nd ring. "Hey Kurt!" Blaine said, clearly worried if his boyfriend was going to get to the bus on time. Clearly he isn't the only one.

"Hey Blaine, I'm on my way. I'm about halfway there now." Kurt said, looking at the clock on the radio, and it was 2:43.

"I'm trying to hold Wes off, but you need to get here as soon as possible."

"I'm trying, Blaine. I really am." Kurt said as he started driving when the light turned green, but a few seconds later, he saw something that knew was going to fuck him over, completely. "Oh shit…"

"What's going on?"

"There's an accident on the road, causing a backlog of cars, and now I have to wait for the officer to direct traffic. I'm never going to make it there on time."

"Do your best, I'm rooting for you."

"Thanks Blaine. Okay, I should go and concentrate on the road."

"You do that, I'll see you later."

Kurt was stuck in traffic, and there was nothing he could do about it. It was currently 2:49, and he knew that it was at least another 10 minutes before he could get to Dalton, on a no traffic day, let alone with an accident on a one lane highway. He slammed his hands into the steering wheel and let out a string of swear words that would make a sailor blush. "C'mon you idiots, I have somewhere I have to be." He started screaming at no one in particular. Anyone watching him would think that he needed to go to therapy to get over his road rage, but he couldn't help it. He finally got a solo for the Warblers, and now he was going to end up missing it. This absolutely sucked.


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uthor's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the struggles of those living with Invisible Illnesses every day, and none of them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story:
> 
> Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.
> 
> Author's Note #2: An update! I know! Shocking, isn't it? Everytime someone has asked me over these past 7 months, if I've abandoned this story, my answer has always been "No!" This story will never be abandoned. This story is a therapy fic; meaning that Kurt's fate has a direct relationship with my own fate. I've had a bad few days in terms of migraines and emotions, which is one of the main reasons why I've started writing this story again, you can clearly see it in this chapter. Know that no matter what happens, no matter how long it takes for this story to be updated it will never be abandoned.
> 
> Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.

It was 3:25 when Kurt got to the Dalton parking lot.  There wasn’t a car or bus in sight and not a soul around. He opened up his phone to see a text message from Wes, Thad, and Blaine.

[3:06.29pm]Where are you Kurt? We have to leave, like now!

[3:07.11pm]Wes is pitching a fit about you being so late. Get here ASAP!

[3:09.59pm]I’m sorry Kurt.  Wes won’t let us wait any longer.  I tried getting him to wait but he wouldn’t hear of it.

Kurt punched the seat next to him; angry that he wouldn’t be able to perform that day.  Why couldn’t he have gotten an appointment for earlier in the day? Why did there have to be an accident that caused traffic to back up?  He hated this.  Not only did the migraines cause such pain on a daily basis, but they are now indirectly preventing him from doing what he loves even when he feels perfectly fine.

He had been wallowing in self pity for about ten minutes when there was a knock on his window that woke him out of his internal rage.  He turned and saw Madame Monroe standing outside his car looking concerned. He hit the button to lower the window and before Kurt could say anything, she asked “Is everything okay, Kurt?” He shook his head.

“No.  Nothing is okay.  Nothing is ever going to be okay as long as these stupid migraines stick around.  I hate this.  Even when I don’t’ have a migraine, they still screw up my life!” He vents to the only person at Dalton who both understands his pain and truly cares about his well being.

“What happened?” She asked softly making Kurt sigh.

“I was kept waiting at the doctor’s office causing me to get stuck behind an accident which backed me up on the highway, making me late getting back here to leave on the bus to the Warbler performance. I had two solos!” He raved and couldn’t prevent the burst of rage that pushed through his normally calm façade.

“Kurt, why don’t you get out of your car, and you and I can take a little walk, shall we?” She suggested serenely. Kurt shrugged but did as she requested.

“I know you’re upset Kurt, but you can’t let yourself get worked up like this.  It will only make things worse.”

“I know.  But… for once I just want something good to happen for a change. Everything for the past month and a half has been about pain, suffering and having to skip doing things I’d love to do but can’t cause it can make the migraines worse.  Today was supposed to be different.

“Kurt, the Warblers are performing at a Retirement home today, and I know you had a solo when you all went to Regionals.” He looked at her quizzically and she just waved it off. “Being both a Dalton teacher and Blaine’s Godmother has its perks.” He smiled. “So what’s the real problem?”

“What if I never get the chance to perform anymore?” Kurt asked, seemingly evading her question.

“You’ll have plenty of chances to perform, Kurt. What is this really about?” She asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.  He jerked away from her and shouted.

“That is what this is really about!” His scream startled her for a moment, but she recovered in time for him to say what she really wanted to hear, in barely above a whisper. “What if we never find out what is causing them? What if no medication works? What if I have to give up on my dreams because my debilitating migraines have taken over my life?” Madame looked at her student, and swallowed the lump rising in her throat before pulling him into a hug.

“Oh Kurt.  I know it’s hard.  But you can’t focus on what ifs.  Focus on the present and what you can do to help stop the migraines now, here today.”

“What happens when the latest medication fails, though?” He asks, unable to keep the quiver out of his voice.

“Then you find another prescription, and another and yet another after that! Then after all that, you still have problems with your migraines, you go see a specialist, someone who specializes in brains. But you cannot give up hope, Kurt.  Hope is the one thing you have right now that is more important than ever.” She pleads with him; desperate to make him understand how important hope is to someone suffering from an Invisible Illness.

“I’m scared.” He admits, and she nods her head in understanding.

“I know you are. But you need to hold on to hope.  Hold onto the knowledge that there has to be an answer, and sooner or later you’ll have it.”

“I don’t know if I can.” She places her arm around his shoulders once more and squeezes.

“I know you can, if you’re strong enough to deal with those awful migraines, you’re strong enough to wait them out. I know you are. You just have to believe in yourself, and believe that there is an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was short, but I just wanted to get this chapter out. I have another 800 something words written for the next chapter, and I should have another chapter out by tonight/tomorrow morning.


	17. Chapter 16

It had been three weeks since he went to the Doctor Randle’s office and got the latest prescription for migraines.  They seemed to help… a little. They would take away a portion of the pain and symptoms, but they wouldn’t alleviate the migraine completely; but Kurt would take what he could get. He was just happy that there was something that could deal with the migraines, even just a little bit so he could still enjoy the thing he loved.

He had to take one earlier this morning, because he woke up with his head pounding, and he was strict with the whole “take it at the first sign of a migraine” instructions the doctor gave him, because he wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible. It was 1 in the afternoon and he and Blaine were sitting in the darkened living room of the Hudmel house, watching a movie, enjoying their first day of summer; or as much of it as Kurt’s migraines would allow them. Blaine was leaning up against the arm of the couch, and Kurt was curled into him, practically laying on the rest of the couch; they enjoyed this position the best. It made Kurt feel comforted, and allowed Blaine to feel as if he was doing something for his boyfriend besides asking him repetitive questions that make him angry.

Once the movie ended, Blaine looked down at his boyfriend, who had fallen asleep on his lap. He smiled. Kurt had gone through a rough time the past couple of months and he had been with him every step of the way. That day when Kurt missed the Retirement Home performance, Blaine went straight over to Kurt’s house afterwards to find his boyfriend curled up in a ball with all the lights off, silently crying. Blaine knew why, but at the same time had no clue. He did the only thing he could think of to do, and climbed in beside him and just held him. He’s tried to be the best boyfriend he could be, especially with Kurt dealing with what he was, but it wasn’t until moments like this when he knew that everything would be okay in the long run. Things might seem hectic at times, but eventually they’d get to a point where things would be okay. He knew it, that time had to come sooner or later.

Slowly and carefully, Blaine extricated himself from Kurt’s arms, laid him down on the couch and grabbed the blanket off the back to cover him up. As he did so, he kissed Kurt’s head and turned the volume down on the TV a little, before leaving the room. This house had become like a second home to him over the past few months; having been here during more waking hours than he had even been in his own home.  He walked into the kitchen to get himself a drink, when he saw Carole who had taken the day off was making herself a sandwich to eat.

“Oh hey Blaine sweetie, are you hungry?” Blaine thought about it and nodded when he felt his stomach tumble over not having had anything to eat in a few hours.  “Help yourself, dear.”  He grabbed a plate out of a cabinet and began to place different fixings on his plate. “How’s he doing in there?”

Blaine shrugged. “He’s sleeping again. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he had narcolepsy.” He chuckled and Carole nodded sadly.

“I’ve only known Kurt for about a year now, but even Burt says this isn’t like him at all. Usually he’s a midnight to 6 am sleeper on weekdays, midnight to 8am on weekends, and then is find the rest of the time, but lately….” Blaine nods. “Has he said anything about not being able to sleep at night?”

Blaine shook his head. “Not really, except the days where he takes a 4 hour nap due to a migraine and then can’t sleep that night, but no.” They both let that sink it, and wonder what it could mean for a moment, before he speaks again. “Mom says that migraines don’t just take a lot out of you physically, but emotionally and psychologically too. That could really be draining him as well.” Carole nodded, before taking her sandwich which was fully made to sit down at the kitchen table.

“They are I’ve dealt with that before, but never as bad as he has.”

“I just wish there was something I could do for him, that would actually, y’know… do something for him.” Blaine confesses.

“I understand, but there’s nothing we can do. We’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.

“I guess you’re right.”

About an hour later, Kurt wakes up sore in his living room. Despite Blaine moving him into a more comfortable position after he fell asleep, Kurt still slept on a couch, and it threw his back out momentarily. He sat up and started stretching out, hoping to make that crick in his lower back go away. His head was still hurting, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, so the medication had to be working, right?

Getting up, he went in search of anyone in the house, mainly to tell him where Blaine was. He heard voices coming from the Kitchen and when he got there, he saw Carole and Blaine standing at the kitchen counter, cleaning and drying dishes; together. He smiled.

“I can’t believe I actually managed an A in Physics.” Blaine said, and Carole beamed.

“That’s great!”

“I honestly thought I was going to end up with a B because I did horribly on the 2nd to last test he gave us, but I pulled it off.” Blaine was drying a glass that Carole had just finished washing before turning around to put it away when he saw Kurt in the doorway. “Hey Kurt.” He said.

“Oh sweetie, you’re awake.  How was your nap?” Kurt shrugged before walking over towards the island and sitting at one of the stools.

“I still have the migraine, if that’s what you’re asking.” By the look on Carole’s face, he could tell that it was _exactly_ what she was asking.

“Do you want to go back to Dr. Randle and see if he’s got anything else for you?” Carole asks carefully, and Kurt glares at her. “I’m just saying, Kurt.  That if your head still hurts after taking these medications, it’s probably not working like it’s supposed to.”

“And have him give me another medication that’s not going to work?” Kurt asks, groaning. “I’d rather just deal with a partial migraine, than potentially take another medication that works like the imitrex did.”

“Who knows, Kurt? Maybe he’ll give you something you can take every day, that’ll prevent them. Something that will make you not get them at all. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

That would be a nice thought, if it were possible. But Kurt really didn’t want to have to take medication every day. He already watched his father take multiple pills every day and the thought of having to do it himself was not thrilling. It might make him feel better, but he was still so young; he wasn’t even 18 years old yet and already there were discussions of putting him on medications that might last the rest of his life.

“I don’t like the idea of having to take a daily medicine for the rest of my life. I’m only 17 years old…” Kurt confessed, and when he looked up at Blaine, expecting to see compassion and understanding in his boyfriend’s eyes, he saw the rolling of them instead.

“Kurt, just because you might have to take something daily, _now_ , doesn’t mean you will for the rest of your life.” Blaine sighed. “Migraines don’t always last forever, Kurt. My mom has seen patients that have had them for years, and then inexplicably they just vanished; without any rhyme or reason for it.”

“With my luck, I’m not so optimistic.” Kurt rolled his own eyes, causing Blaine to rage.

“For cripes’ sake Kurt! I know the migraines hurt, and I know that they alter your personality some when you have them, but we’re trying to help you here. We’re trying to suggest options that’ll let you go back to your normal, regular everyday self. Why do you keep fighting it? Do you want to keep having them? Do you want to keep having to sleep the day away because you can’t stand to go outside? Gosh, every time we’ve tried to offer suggestions that will help you with your migraines, you’ve shot them down without really thinking about them, do you just want to stay in pain for the rest of your life? Do you just like the attention or something?”

“Get out.” Kurt yelled.  He couldn’t believe what his boyfriend had just ranted to him about. Of all the things that Blaine could have said to try and get him to try a new mediation, none of that was the correct way to go about it. “If you think I’m doing all this, just for attention, then you can get the hell out of my house.” Carole was standing silently by the sink, carefully not saying anything, waiting to see if they’d work out their argument on their own, or if she’d have to step in.

“Kurt, I didn’t mean it like that…”

“I don’t care how you meant it. You still said it, which obviously on some level makes you believe it. Get out.”

“Blaine, I think you should go…” Carole muttered softly. With a deep breath, Blaine looked between Kurt and Carole, Kurt who was angrier than he had ever seen him, and Carole who he couldn’t read at all. Without saying another word, Blaine walked out of the kitchen, and down the hallway towards the front door. A minute later they heard the door shut softly and a minute after that they heard his car rev up and pull out of their driveway.


	18. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt gains some perspective on his argument with Blaine from a sympathetic online friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is a therapy fic. I'm writing this as a way to cope with the struggles that come with Invisible Illnesses, both having one myself, and living with a family member with multiple ones. If at any time the characters in this story seem to have struggles so far out there, that it all seems made up, please keep in mind that these are the visible Illnesses every day, and none of them are made up.
> 
> Invisible Illnesses expected to turn up in this story: Chronic Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and Diabetes. Others may make appearances, but these you can be sure will show up.
> 
> Author's Note #2: Like I've said before, this fic will never be abandoned. I've had most of this chapter written for the past few weeks, but it's never truly felt... right until tonight. We have the introduction of a new invisible illness today, there's not a lot of information on it right now, but there will be in the future.

Once Blaine left the house, Kurt quickly made his way out of the kitchen.  He knew Carole was itching to say something, but he didn’t want to hear it. There was nothing that she could say that would make this situation better. Blaine had accused him of doing something that in a million years Kurt would never do, and he was incredibly pissed off.  He ran into his room and slammed the door.  He grabbed his laptop off of his desk and plopped down onto his perfectly made bed. He opened it up and the first thing that he saw as it woke up was the message boards that he’d been frequenting for the past few weeks.

It was a forum for those suffering from Invisible Illness.  An online support group type thing that Kurt found comforting.  He was able to find people who understood what he was going through, and who knew how terrible it was. He refreshed the page, and saw that he had a private message waiting for him. He smiled, because he automatically knew who it was.  It was a friend he’d met on here who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia just under a year ago. Kurt had messaged her this morning complaining of yet another migraine, ranting about how ridiculous it is that he keeps getting them and they never go away.

**_Date:  June 11, 2011; 10:23.54am_ **

**_To: CanaryBrain527_ **

**_From: Dance4Life_ **

_So apparently we’re two peas in a pod today, both waking up with symptoms of our illnesses. *sigh* My back started spasming while I was sleeping, so now I’m stuck on the couch. Partially so I don’t move and cause myself more pain, and partially because my mom won’t let me move.  I’ll trade ya?  I’ll take your migraines for the day, if you take my back pain?_

Sadly Kurt couldn’t do that even if he wanted to. He moved his cursor up to the reply button and clicked on it, until he noticed that she was online currently, and requested an instant message chat.  She accepted soon after.

_Dance4Life: Hey! How’re you feeling?_

_CanaryBrain527: Migraine is still here.  Though thats the least of my worries right now._

_Dance4Life: Whats wrong?_

_CanaryBrain527: I told you about my boyfriend, right?_

_Dance4Life: Mhm. I believe the term “love of my life” was used more than once._

_CanaryBrain527: …how he was so supportive and loving and how I couldn’t have asked for a better support system going through all of these migraines?_

_Dance4Life: *nods*_

_CanaryBrain527: forget it all_

_Dance4Life: Ut-oh, What happened? What’d loverboy do?_

_CanaryBrain527: He accused me of faking the migraines just to get attention._

_Dance4Life: HE DID NOT!!_

_CanaryBrain527: Sadly, he did._

_CanaryBrain527: He said “Do you just like the attention or something?" Honestly, does he think I’m that shallow?_

_Dance4Life: Is that all he said?_

_CanaryBrain527:  What do you mean ‘is that all’_

_Dance4Life: Don’t take this the wrong way, but that doesn’t sound like he was accusing you of faking them…_

_CanaryBrain527: What’s that supposed to mean?_

_Dance4Life: What were you two talking about prior to the “accusation?”_

Kurt wasn’t fond of the way she was using quotations around the word accusation, but he let it go and thought back to precisely what Blaine had said in the heat of the moment.  Everything that happened before he kicked Blaine out of the house was becoming a blur; probably a subconscious defense mechanism because he definitely didn’t want to keep an active memory of what happened in the kitchen just a few minutes ago.

_CanaryBrain527: We were talking about going to the doctor for another ‘script to handle the migraines, and the fact that I didn’t want to_

_Dance4Life: Why not?_

_CanaryBrain527: We’ve been through this before… I don’t like Drs_

_Dance4Life: So you don’t like the doctors, no one really does._

_Dance4Life: That doesn’t mean they’re not useful_

_CanaryBrain527: Are you going to get on me about this now, too?_

_Dance4Life: hey, i’m just an innocent bystander giving you a third party’s perspective._

There was a minute or two of silence where neither of them said anything in the little IM Box that controlled their interactions. Kurt didn’t know what to say, especially because maybe she was right. He had caved and gone to the doctor to get help… was it worth the pain and the stubbornness to not return when he needed to?

_Dance4Life:  You said his mom is a doctor?_

_CanaryBrain527: mhm_

_Dance4Life: So look at this from his perspective. When you say you hate doctors, you’re also saying that you hate his mother._

_CanaryBrain527: I hate doctors as doctors, not when they’re normal human beings…_

_Dance4Life: It doesn’t matter. His mom is a doctor.  He’s seen how much his mom has helped people in the past, and he just wants you to get that same treatment._

_CanaryBrain527: So he does it by telling me that I’m faking the migraines?_

_Dance4Life: But he didn’t say that, not according to you. There’s a difference between enjoying the attention that you get from an illness, and faking said illness to get said attention._

_CanaryBrain527: But I don’t like the attention._

_Dance4Life: Not many of us do._

_CanaryBrain527: Why would anyone enjoy the questions of “how are you doing?”  “are you feeling okay?”  “how’s the head?”  “did you sleep well?”  All with the subtext of “is your brain being smashed with a hammer today?”_

_Dance4Life: I know how you feel. I hate it when my mom asks me if I’m okay to go to school, or if I’m able to do normal everyday things but at the same time, a tiny bit of me likes it._

_CanaryBrain527: What do you mean?_

_Dance4Life: As much as I hate the repetitive questions, and being coddled all the time…it’s nice knowing that someone cares for you. It’s nice having your boyfriend treat you special. I’m not saying that it’s a good thing, but it’s a nice feeling. It’s not something that I encourage or try to instigate, but when it happens…I enjoy it._

_CanaryBrain527: So you think that maybe he thinks I’m actually trying to get the sympathy from him?_

_Dance4Life: It’s possible. You never know. At this point you just have to deal with the fact that you have the migraines, and if that means going to the doctors to get a new prescription well then, that’s what you’ll have to do._

_CanaryBrain527: How am I supposed to deal with it, when he says think I’m faking them for attention?_

_Dance4Life: I just think he doesn’t understand where you’re coming from. He probably sees doctors as something wonderful, a person in his life that has always been able to make him feel better when he’s been injured or hurt. Then you come along and tell him that doctors are horrible people and make everything worse. It conflicts with everything he’s known and makes him believe there has to be another reason for you not liking them._

_CanaryBrain527: So what am I supposed to do?_

_Dance4Life: Talk to him. Sit down and talk, no yelling and no screaming._

_CanaryBrain527: I don’t want to talk to him right now._

_Dance4Life: I’m not saying you have to talk to him right now.  That would probably be a bad thing and make you both angrier than you already are. But tomorrow, or the next day. After you’ve both calmed down._

_CanaryBrain527: Maybe…_

* * *

Later that day, when Kurt finally emerged from his room, he found Carole and his father sitting at the kitchen table, both drinking what looks to be coffee. He knew without a doubt in his mind that Carole had told his father what happened earlier in the day. Despite how much Kurt was angry with his boyfriend at the moment he didn’t want his father going after Blaine until they had a chance to talk.

“How’re you feeling, Kurt?” Kurt stopped in his tracks, and turned to face his parents.

“Why do you keep asking me that?” He asked without preamble. “Why do you always ask me how I’m feeling, or if I’m doing okay, when you know for a fact that I hate hearing those questions?” He was bitter, both about the constant nagging by his parents about how he was feeling and about his and Blaine’s fight earlier today.  He wanted answers, because answers might at least give him an insight into Blaine’s mind.

“Because we want to know how you’re feeling, Kurt. We sort of need to know.” Carole answered cautiously.

“We’re concerned, Kurt. We’re your parents, we need to know how your head is, because if it gets too bad, we need to take action. I in particular, know how stubborn you can be. If you hide how bad the migraines have gotten, and we find out later on that they’ve gotten to the point where we should have brought you to the hospital…” His dad added, and Kurt sighed.

“But why? Why do you constantly ask? Why can’t you just trust me to tell you when it gets to be too much?”

“Would you tell us?” Carole countered, and Kurt nodded his head.

“Kurt, what is extreme to us, and extreme to you, are two different extremes.  They always have been.  Need I remind you of what sent you to Dalton, in the first place?” Burt asked, and Kurt rolled his eyes.

“That’s different.”

“Situation is different, extremity is the same.” Carole defended. She motioned for Kurt to sit down. “We know you don’t like doctors and hospitals Kurt, and for the most part we’ve respected that. But I’ve seen people come into the hospital with migraine headaches where they have ended up dying of aneurisms a few hours later because they waited too long to seek treatment.  We’re not going to let that happen to you.”

“If we left it up to you, son.  You’d insist upon staying home for as long as possible, until you collapsed and we had to bring you in, anyway.” Kurt had to admit, that assessment of the situation was probably true. He had a stubborn streak a mile wide, he got it from his mother; or so his father always seemed to tell him.

“So you don’t think that I’m faking them?” He asked carefully, and Burt looked at him curiously.

“Of course not.” Burt said, Carole shook her head in agreement.

“I don’t think Blaine does either.”

“He practically called me a hypochondriac today Carole. What else would he think?” Kurt retorted, and Carole sighed.

“Sweetie, you had a migraine, you weren’t feeling well and you were already getting annoyed with all the doctor talk. But trust me, that is not what he was trying to say.”

“Then what do you think he was trying to say?” Kurt challenged.

“He’s frustrated, Sweetie.  We all are. We all hate seeing you in pain.” Carole told him.

“I’d say aside from me, Blaine hates seeing you in pain the most.” Burt added.

“So when he said ‘Do you like the attention or something’ it wasn’t an accusation that you’re faking them. Far from it. But maybe the idea is swimming around in his head that you went so long without people in your life that cared for you, that now that you have them you want to make the most of it?” Kurt shook his head.

“Why would I want 5 people asking me how I’m feeling all within a 10 minute period?” Kurt asked, not understanding what Carole was trying to say, even though it sounded vaguely familiar to what his friend online was trying to tell him earlier. “Why would I take comfort in knowing that I have migraines?”

“Not in the migraines, hon.  But in how the people around you react when you have them.”

“Like what?”

“For instance, when you have a migraine, what does Blaine do if he’s around to help?”

“He holds me while I sleep it off.  He tries to comfort me… He makes me feel better.”

“You enjoy that, don’t you?” Kurt nods. “I think that’s all he was trying to say, Kurt.”

 That made a bit more sense. But it still didn’t explain why Blaine had to blow up at Kurt in order to get his point across.

“Kurt, you love Blaine right?” Burt asked his son who nodded furiously and sniffed back the tears that were starting to build. “Then talk to him. This won’t solve itself if you don’t talk to him.”

“Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to get out the shotgun and scare him off for hurting me?” Kurt challenged. “And where I’m supposed to stop you from being mad at him?” Burt laughed.

“Sorry son. I know how much you hate doctors, and I will respect that.  But I will always side with the person who wants to send you to the doctor when it comes to your health and wellbeing.”


	19. Authors note

I'M SORRY. I know that this is not the type of update you wanted. But there have been changes in my life recently that has made me want to share.

First of all im dreadfully sorry that I abandoned this story. I never meant to. But circumstances in life change and cause unexpected events to play out in front of you.

#1. I finished college and started my first full (and over)time job which reduced my mental capabilities to shit at the end of every day/week. It would literally take the entire weekend to gain enough brain power to write and by then it was time to work again.(and let's not discount the weeks where I had to work Saturday and Sunday too, which were and still are the worst.

#2. After working my ass off for a year and a half, I was finally able to save up enough money to move out of my parents place into a house that I bought. Which added to stress loads, with mortgages, insurance, etc. Then came a change in my responsibilities at work which increased my work and stress levels from a 5 and 8 respectively, to a 9 and 15.

But I'm finally back in a spot where I might be able to write the way I used to. That is, a lot and often.

#3.That being said, there's also another reason why I haven't been able to continue this story.... I no longer experience chronic, excruitiating migraines on a daily basis. Through a combination of meds and lifestyle changes, I have maybe one or two headaches a month, instead of every day, which I'm ecstatic about.

And I've always said that this story was therapy and that I would write as long as I dealt with them, and since I no longer am, I, unfortunately have to actually acknowledge this fics abandonment.

Don't fret, because I have started a new story about this concept. However it will no longer be fanfiction. My intent is to write and publish to bring widespread attention to these debilitating diseases.

What does that mean?  
I need your help. There have been dozens of you who have reviewed and/or messaged me about your own illnesses and if you are willing to answer some questions I would love to hear from you. You can contact me in any of the following ways:

Fanfiction.net:aalikane  
Aalikane88.Tumblr.com  
Twitter:aalikane  
Ao3: aalikane

These questions will be about your illness, your experiences, your emotional and mental health because of the illness and how it impacts your everyday life.

I'd like to collect all the data that I can in time for July' s NaNoWriMo. So please, if you're tired of your hardships being dismissed, help me to make accurate accounts-because the worst thing i could let happen, is giving inaccurate accounts of what people with these diseases face on a daily basis.


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